A Change of Fate
by Da Cute Snowbunny
Summary: Everyone thought I was a freak, with a BIG forehead. I have an annoying voice inside my head that won't leave me alone. Wait a holy minute... since when did I have wings? -A different Naruto beginning- SasuSakuShika triangle.
1. Getting Acquainted

**A Change of Fate**

By: Da Cute Snowbunny

Hey everyone! Hehehe, I know I shouldn't really start a new fic, since I hardly update my other ones. (Nervous laugh) But I really can't help it! Anyway, this is gonna be one of those different beginning fics.

**Disclaimer: No, I only wished I owned Naruto. Also, I give credit to authors out there who might've written fics that might have a similar plot or whatever else that's similar, just so people don't start thinking I'm plagiarising.

* * *

**

"..." -talking

'...' -thoughts

**Inner Self **

* * *

The wind was roaring outside, making the tree branches smack against the window panes, creating a 'pang' noise. Not that this bothered anyone though. Everyone just sat there, waiting patiently for the teacher to make his appearance.

Where are we you ask? Why, we're at the ninja academy silly! Where else would you be at this point and time? (ahem) Anyway, Iruka-sensei has finally made his appearance.

"Ohayo class! It's nice to see everyone back from the weekend." he happily said to the class. The class just murmured a bit before quieting down.

"As you have already been told, we're having a test today on the 100 shinobi rules." he told the class, and some groans and complains were heard. Iruka smiled slightly.

"However, I will give you ten minutes to review, so use your time wisely!" Iruka addressed to the class once again before sitting down behind his desk. The students immediately started pulling out their notes and started quizzing each other on the 100 shinobi rules. All except for a few students.

Nara Shikamaru: Too lazy to even pull out his books.

Akimichi Chouji: Too busy eating.

Uzumaki Naruto: Didn't even have his books here.

Uchiha Sasuke: Already studied. Don't need to review.

Uchiha Sasuke was this year's "Number One" rookie. He excelled at everything in the academy, whether it be studies or ninja skills. He pawned them all, and the girls love him for it. The guys however, all think he's some kind of emo with a pole stuck up his ass. But back to the main point, Uchiha Sasuke is a freakin' genius.

However, due to Uchiha Sasuke's high popularity, the limelight has never shined on our _other_ academy genius- Haruno Sakura.

Now we all wonder, "How on _Earth _is she a genius?"

Haruno Sakura may be your ordinary ninja cadet with no special talents, but she's got smarts that other's don't even care to notice... maybe except for Iruka. But next to her smarts, she has great intuition which helps her in her field training. (Which she sadly, still needs work on.)

"Hey forehead-girl! Why are you even bothering? There's no point, seeing as you failed half the things in this class!" a girl sneered at Sakura before punching Sakura's shoulder. Sakura winced a bit, but didn't comment.

She was used to this, as this happened almost every day. No one knew of Sakura's academics, as she never talked about them. When asked, she had never replied. Due to a poor childhood, Sakura grew up without any friends and a low self-esteem, as well as very little self-confidence. The source of the bullying of course being her-

_P__ink_ hair and_ large_ forehead.

But even with all the hate on her person, Sakura still loves going to school. She knew that if she could become a great ninja someday, she wouldn't have to put up with the antagonism anymore. However, that dream felt very far away at the moment.

"Oh my, is Billboard actually _studying_?" Sakura heard some girl sneer. She sighed quietly for the umpteenth time. Because she never said anything in class, everyone assumed she was failing since they never see her _do_ anything. She sometimes wondered why girls had to be so nasty to each other. 

"Alright class! Time's up. Please put all your books away and take out a writing utensil." Iruka told the class as he got the test papers out. Almost half the kids in the room had a nervous look on their face.

"I'm gonna ace this test!" a loud voice exclaimed. Sakura turned her head towards the voice, who turned out to be the class troublemaker.

Sakura looked at the boy. She had always kinda admired Naruto for being so spirited even when he was being punished. He tries so hard to catch everyone's attention, even though he may be a bit of an idiot. Sometimes, she wished she was as brave as this boy. In many ways, Sakura felt like she could relate with him, but she could never bring about the courage to actually associate with him.

"I'm glad you're so enthusiastic about this test Naruto. I hope you do your best." Iruka said with a smile on his face before giving Naruto the test paper. One glance at the paper and Naruto's face paled.

'Crap! I don't know this!' Naruto thought worriedly before looking over all the questions before shakily writing some answers down.

Someone poked Sakura in the back of the head, which made her turn around. It turned out to be Ino.

"Hey you, try not to flunk this test ok?" she snickered before sitting back in her seat. Sakura turned back around with an inaudible hmph and silently fumed. One day, she's going to show the world just how much of a flunk she's _not_.

**'That's the spirit girl!' **a fiery voice inside her head spoke.

Sakura looked startled for a second.

'W-what? Who're you?' she asked/thought to the voice.

**'I'm... your conscience.' **the voice replied somewhat suspiciously. Sakura just decided to block out the voice, seeing as consciences don't usually talk to you. Instead, don't they correct you if you're wrong, or guide you in the right direction when you're lost? She always thought it was just that nagging feeling, not an actual _voice_.

'I must be going insane.' she thought to herself warily as she finished the test and waited for the other students to finish. She continued to ponder to herself why she suddenly had a talking "conscience".

_26 minutes later..._

"Alright class! Today we're going to try something new. You're going to pass your papers to the person sitting in front of you, and the front person will bring it to the back of their row." Iruka instructed while he took out his answer book.

Everyone just grumbled about the sudden change, but did as they were told anyway.

Sakura passed her paper up front; her heart dropped. Uchiha Sasuke sat in front of her.

Her heart didn't drop because _The_ Uchiha Sasuke was going to correct her paper, but because of the consequences that would come with it. No doubt, there were going to be lots of jealous fangirls breathing down her neck.

Sakura wanted to bang her head on her desk. Why was she so _unlucky_? She mentally sighed. She must have done something terrible to deserve this stroke of luck.

"Are you handing me your test or what?" Sasuke asked impatiently, which snapped Sakura back into reality, who then quickly gave Sasuke her sheet. She turned around just in time to see Ino glare at her.

"Forehead, I'm warning you. Don't think of this as an oppurtunity to get closer to my Sasuke-kun!" Ino warned while wearing a fake smile and shoved her paper in Sakura's face.

'It was only my test, not a love letter.' Sakura thought, feeling slightly upset.

**'Why don't you stick up for yourself?' **her conscience asked, sounding annoyed.

'There's no point. I'm just going to be laughed at. Then, I get punished for even trying to stick up for myself.' Sakura thought back dully as Iruka started reading out the answers.

'Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.' Sakura thought as she marked Ino's answers. Yes, Ino most likely didn't study hard enough for this test, seeing as she had lots of blanks and most of them are wrong. In the only form of revenge she could ever give, she wrote pretty red Xs for every wrong answer Ino got.

Meanwhile, Sasuke just stared at the paper he was marking. The supposed "loser" in the class had just written a perfect test.

* * *

When he handed it back, he took a good look at Sakura. She was said to be the class's second failure, although he never bothered to find out why. He had never really noticed the girl, since he assumed all the girls in his class were fangirls. (Bunny: Conceited much..)

She has _pink _hair. He briefly wondered if it was a birth defect.

She had green eyes, nothing wrong with those.

Her forehead? Sasuke stared at it a second longer. He wasn't sure what drug the others were on, but he was fairly certain it was average size.

* * *

Once everyone got their papers back, they had to tell Iruka what they got outloud. Sakura gulped.

'I don't want to.' she thought nervously. What would the others say? Iruka gave Sakura an encouraging smile, while Sakura only managed to return a weak smile.

**'Girl, you're seriously getting onto my nerves.' **her conscience growled, sounding irritated.

'Great. I'm getting on myself's nerves.' Sakura thought to herself sarcastically. She's now wondering if she's either schizophrenic, or just simply crazy.

**'That's what you think.' **her conscience commented in a slightly dark tone.

'What?' Sakura thought, a little confused. Was she talking about her comment or her suspicions? Sakura could feel a headache brewing from all this internal conflict.

"Haruno Sakura!" Iruka called again. Sakura quickly snapped out of her little reverie and looked at Iruka with an apologetic smile on her face.

"Perfect." Sakura mumbled.

"Sorry, could you repeat that please?" Iruka said shushing some chatting kids at the front of the room.

Sakura tried to not roll her eyes. "100." she repeated, a bit louder this time. This time, everyone heard her, and whispers went around the room.

"Forehead got perfect?" a girl on the otherside of the room exclaimed while giving Sakura a look. Sakura slid lower in her seat, trying to hide herself from the rest of the gawking class.

"It's troublesome isn't it?" a boy asked her from her right. Sakura quickly looked at the person who spoke to her.

"Are you talking to me?" she asked quietly, pointing a finger to herself while unsure emerald eyes stared at Nara Shikamaru.

"Who else? The window?" he asked sarcastically while leaning back in his chair. Sakura had a look of shock on her face. In all her 12 years of existence, people rarely tried to befriend her. Very few ever tried to have a conversation with her, so her social skills were rather sub-par. But having someone speak to her directly (and not insulting her) was new to her.

"I-ie. It's just that... no one's tried to talk to me before." Sakura whispered quietly, not even looking at Shikamaru. Shikamaru quirked a brow at the girl's timidness. She was almost as bad as the Hyuuga heiress.

"Ok class. Your final exam will be a week from now, so I hope you study well for it, and remember to practice all the jutsus we've learned. They might come up on the practical part of the exam." Iruka reminded them as the bell rang, signaling the end of classes.

Sakura wanted to get home quick before the We-Love-Sasuke fanclub got to her. Then again, it wasn't like home was going to be any better.

* * *

Luckily, Sasuke just _happened_ to be nearby when the fangirls spotted her. So naturally, they went after him like bees to flowers. However, she wasn't gonna thank him for it, cause he _was_ the reason the fangirls were chasing her all over Konoha.

"I'm home." Sakura said quietly before closing the door and walked into the kitchen.

"What took you so long?" a stern voice asked her sharply.

"T-There were fangirls c-chasing after me... so I took the l-longer route." Sakura explained, trying not to sound nervous, but failed. Snorting could be heard.

"That's why you're going to the ninja academy, so you could take them on!" and a crisp smack could be heard.

"I-I'll learn to be better... kaa-san." Sakura said, barely above a whisper before she walked to her room, her only sanctuary. There, Sakura finally let out tears that had been waiting to be freed for the entire day.

Sakura lived with her mother Haruno Leiko. Leiko wasn't her biological mother though. Her father had remarried after her mother died from a miscarriage 5 years ago. Like Cinderella, Leiko was only nice to Sakura whenever her father was around. When he was away on missions though, so was her "caring mother" act. She was real witch and ice queen. Sakura would never understand what her father had seen in Leiko. She may have the face of a loving mother, but her personality says otherwise.

When her father had passed away due to a mission, Leiko was the only family she had left. Leiko had never laid a hand on her before when her father was around, but.. things changed. Whenever Sakura did something that did not please Leiko, she would be punished.

**'Look at you. You're **_**pathetic.' **_her conscience sneered. Sakura just hiccupped. Of all times, her "conscience" decides to talk to her now. Sakura wondered if she had finally lost her marbles due to all the loneliness and oppression.

**'You baka. I'm not a figment of your imagination if that's what you're thinking.' **her conscience told her with a touch of anger in it's voice.

'What are you then?' she screamed in her mind, feeling a tirade of emotions currently.

**'That, I will only reveal to you later. But, why don't you get some sleep for now?' **it spoke cryptically. Before Sakura could say another word, she was out like a light bulb.

**To be continued. . .**

* * *

Bunny: This is my first attempt at writing your regular ninja fics. Please tell me what you think by clicking that button in the bottom left corner. It's easier than you think, and feedback/constructive criticism is welcomed.


	2. My New Team

**A Change of Fate**

By: Da Cute Snowbunny

Hello everybody. Thank you to those who actually reviewed, it made me real happy! Umm, hope you like the chapter!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto. Simple as that.

* * *

"..." -talking

'...' -thoughts

**Inner Self**

* * *

_Recap:_

_**'Look at you. You're **_**pathetic.' **_her conscience sneered. Sakura just hiccupped. Of all times, her "conscience" decides to talk to her now. Sakura wondered if she had finally lost her marbles due to all the loneliness and oppression._

_**'You baka. I'm not a figment of your imagination if that's what you're thinking.' **her conscience told her with a touch of anger in it's voice._

_'What are you then?' she screamed in her mind, feeling a tirade of emotions currently._

_**'That, I will only reveal to you later. But, why don't you get some sleep for now?' **it spoke cryptically. Before Sakura could say another word, she was out like a light bulb._

_

* * *

_

"Wake up wench!" the familiar voice of Leiko hollered from downstairs. Sakura's eyes scrunched for a bit before slowly opening to reveal blurry emerald orbs. Like a pre-programmed robot, she mechanically got out of bed, made it, walked over to the closet to grab her training outfit, then proceed to change into it.

This had been a part of her daily routine ever since Leiko took charge.

Leiko gave out pretty harsh punishments when something didn't go her way. It was always what_ she_ wanted. She never gave a thought Sakura's well being or what she had to say. To say she was earned a grade Fail in parenting would be an understatement.

In a few minutes, Sakura was ready and quietly ate her breakfast. Leiko was (thankfully) reading the morning paper to nag her. After quickly eating her meal, she left the house quickly before Leiko decided she was there for too long. If there was one thing Sakura had caught in quickly, Leiko hated being in the same room with Sakura for an extended amount of time.

* * *

Once she arrived at the academy, she quickly scanned the classroom for any empty seats.

'Two beside Uchiha-san.'

'One left in Hyuuga-san's row.'

'There!' Sakura thought at last as she spotted her favourite seat. The seat closest to the front of the room, where no one really sits in except for Naruto, when he gets caught for skipping. It was the only seat in the academy that was single. Otherwise, it was pairs or triplets.

Just as Sakura started walking towards it, one of her classmates sat in it.

Ami. A Sasuke Lover.

Dang.

Glancing around, she finally decided on sitting beside the lazy Nara heir. If he managed to ignore Iruka's lessons, then he could ignore her too. But, surprisingly that didn't happen.

"Yo." he greeted as Sakura sat down. Sakura's eyes widened a bit as she stared at Shikamaru.

"O-Ohayogozaimasu." Sakura greeted in return quickly, almost sounding rushed. Shikamaru frowned slightly, but not enough so that people would notice.

'Her actions are way too... automatic.' was what Shikamaru thought. She acted like a robot who greeted customers at a store.

"You don't have to be that formal." Shikamaru said, looking at the nervous girl beside him.

"Hai." was her automatic response. Not that it was any of his business, but Sakura bothered him. He knew of his classmate's treatment towards to girl, but he didn't think it was so bad to the point she lacked personality and life. The way she spoke sounded as if she was obeying a command, rather than a simple statement.

Iruka came into the room with a rope tied around a struggling Naruto.

Naruto was in trouble again... Not that anyone else cared at this particular time. Sakura (Like everybody else) hoped she would be able to pass the graduation exam. After the exam, she would be recognized as a full-fledged ninja. Only then, could she hope to even be on better terms with Leiko as well as her fellow classmates. However, if she didn't pass... Sakura doesn't know what would happen to her if she failed.

Shuddering at the thought, she shook her head to clear it. She was going to ace this exam, no matter what.

* * *

"Wow Billboard Brow, I still can't believe you passed that exam!" Haruki said snobbishly as she pushed pass Sakura to join the ever growing crowd around Sasuke's desk. Sakura just looked down and shuffled to her seat next to Shikamaru.

Over the days where they had to study and practice really hard for the exam, the two of them had actually gotten pretty close. Sometimes after training and when Leiko was in a good mood, she would let Sakura go out for an hour or two. With that time, she spent it with Shikamaru watching clouds, or playing some intense games of chess/shogi. Though Shikamaru always ended up being the victor, Sakura wasn't too shabby. She was a quick learner from what Shikamaru told her.

All of the sudden, everything went quiet in the room. Sakura decided to look up, only to see Naruto and Sasuke in a lip lock. She tried not to gasp outloud, for she might gain herself some unwanted attention. She was as usual, sitting in the seat above Sasuke's so she saw everything clearly.

**(snicker) 'Guys kissing in public? This is a first. Highly amusing' **her inner self mused. Sakura thought it was rather disturbing. The two boys quickly pulled away. Naruto was spitting and coughing, saying something about bastard-germs, while Sasuke said he was going to kill Naruto.

But no need for that. The fangirls already prepared to beat the living shit out of Naruto.

Two people in the entire room actually cared. Sakura and Hinata.

But Sakura was the one who came to Naruto's rescue. Quickly, she jumped down from her seat and got in front of Naruto. Everyone was surprised by her actions.

'It was an accident! He shouldn't get punished for it.' Sakura thought desperately as she held her stance, and had a look of determination on her face.

"Forehead what are you doing?" Ino screeched at her while shaking a fist.

"N-Naruto-san doesn't deserve this! It was an accident!" Sakura managed to say. This was her first time standing up to the Sasuke fanclub, and surprisingly, it felt good.

**'Congrats girl. The first time you ever showed any backbone.' **her inner self said sarcastically. Sakura just ignored her. Naruto and her may not have talked much, but at least he doesn't make fun of her every other minute. Plus, he's one of the bravest kids her age she has ever met. He's not even afraid of drawing on the Hokage's faces!

"S-Sakura-chan." Naruto said weakly as his eyes filled up with tears.

"Arigato!" Naruto wailed from behind her. Sakura sweatdropped. But he could act like such a baby at times.

Sasuke's eye twitched. He couldn't believe it. She was actually defending the idiot. He didn't quite understand why she would, since she's never even defended_ herself_. He wasn't sure if he should feel annoyed that someone else was on Naruto's side or not.

On the other hand, Shikamaru's eyes widened. Was that the Sakura _he_ knew? For the short amount of time he had gotten to know Sakura, she was rather meek and docile. She liked avoiding conflict and confrontations. She had never once defended herself from bullies and always took what they threw at her. That little stunt she just pulled however, probably wasn't one of her best course of actions. He knew she was doing it out of kindness from the bottom of her heart, but he knew she wouldn't a chance against all of those fangirls.

* * *

Thankfully, Iruka came into the room and resolved the chaos before anyone got hurt. Shikamaru sighed in relief, but he was glad that Sakura finally decided to show some courage. Iruka was finally going to announce the genin teams, making everyone extremely excited and nervous.

Team 1-6: people not even worth mentioning.

Team 7: Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke-

"How come the best ninja like _me _has to be stuck in a group with _him_!" Naruto protested.

Iruka huffed. "Naruto, you got the lowest test score on the exam! So by putting you in Sasuke's team, it'll balance the team!" he explained.

"Just try to keep up okay? Dobe." Sasuke taunted, which quickly got Naruto pretty pissed.

"What did you call me teme!" Naruto shouted at Sasuke as he balled his fists, ready to punch him in the face. Ino immediately punched Naruto and told him to sit down.

(ahem) "and the last member is Yamanaka Ino." Iruka finished announcing.

"_Yes_! I'm with SASUKE-KUN!" Ino squealed and went to tackle Sasuke into a hug, who instinctively dodged. The other fangirls all groaned and glared at Ino in envy.

'Oh... I'm not in Naruto-kun's team...' the Hyuuga heiress thought gloomily as she looked down.

'Oh, Naruto's not on my team.' Sakura thought, feeling a little disappointed. Naruto may be annoying at times, but he was a fun guy to be around. He could be real caring when he wants to be.

**'You want that annoying pipsqueak on our team? You sure have strange taste in men.' **her inner self said with distaste. Sakura blushed slightly.

'It's not like I have a crush on Naruto or anything! It's just that... he's always been an outcast... like me.' Sakura thought glumly.

**'What about that pineapple headed boy?' **her inner self drawled.

'Shikamaru and I are only friends!' Sakura told her sternly. Her inner self didn't comment anymore on the subject, which Sakura was grateful for. But while Sakura was conversing with herself, she missed which team she was placed on.

"Sakura are you there?" Shikamaru's voice called out to Sakura, who looked up at him. She also noticed that he was standing beside Akimichi Chouji. She slowly nodded her head towards Shikamaru.

(sigh) "We're on the same squad. How troublesome." Shikamaru drawled slightly while Chouji just munched on his never-ending supply of chips. Sakura was pretty certain Chouji's got to have the world's biggest addiction to potato chips.

Sakura's spirits rose. At least she was on a team with her only friend. It was nice for a change. Maybe fate will finally be nice to her... unless it's only the calm before the storm.

* * *

Sakura's eye twitched, but she didn't say anything outloud. It would be rude, and would make a bad impression of her the first time they meet their sensei. So far, she's found out that Asuma-sensei was a chainsmoker... not good. He was pretty laidback... sweet, and he likes treating them to BBQ... awesome!

"...and I really love chips! Especially the last potato chip!" Chouji said happily as he flipped a piece of meat over on the BBQ. As of now, they are told to talk a little about themselves.

"Alright, fair enough. Now what about you pinky?" Asuma asked while he blew out some smoke. Sakura surpressed the urge to glare at her sensei for calling her 'pinky.' No one calls her that except Leiko, when she was bossing her around.

"My name's Haruno Sakura. I-I like ummm, like to read I guess. I-I don't really dislike anything in particular-

**'Hell yes you do! You dislike Leiko, that bitch.' **her inner self snarled.

" -and my goals for the future is to become a good ninja, and to become independent." Sakura finished quietly. Asuma remained quiet for a while as he gave Sakura a long stare. It made Sakura slightly nervous.

'Did I say something wrong?' she wondered nervously as she started fidgeting with her fingers. Finally, Asuma tore his gaze away from Sakura and addressed his whole team.

"Well Team 10! Now that we've all been introduced, why don't we enjoy this meal?" Asuma said happily before taking another drag out of his cigarette.

**'I swear he's gonna die of lung cancer if he keeps inhaling his cigarettes one after another like that.' **her inner self said in disgust as Asuma lit a brand new cigarette and started taking in big drags.

Sakura couldn't help but agree with her inner self. It was also a danger to her own health. Hasn't he heard about second-hand smoking? (Bunny: Omg, some of my friends have major issues about it.)

After they have finished their meal, Asuma told them to meet at this restaurant tomorrow morning at 9. They will be doing some kind of exercise that was supposed to test their skills. Sakura visibly paled. Her skills weren't really great, other than answering really hard answers on ninja exams.

(sigh) 'I'm gonna fail this!' she thought hopelessly.

**'Don't say that! Don't put yourself down you stupid idiot!' **her inner self raged.

Sakura sweatdropped. 'You just insulted yourself.'

**'Not really.' **her inner self said somewhat dryly.

'I'm definitely schizophrenic.' Sakura thought alarmed. While Sakura was lost in her thought, wondering when her insanity took to a new level, Asuma had dismissed the group and was wondering why Sakura was standing stalk still.

'Hmm... this girl's appearance is so... different.' was what Asuma thought as he studied Sakura. He never thought he'd be teaching a student with _pink_ hair. But in any case, he decided to clear things up with the Hokage.

"Sakura, you can go home now." he told her when he saw that she had come back to reality.

"H-Hai! Good day Asuma-sensei!" Sakura said hurriedly before rushing back home. She couldn't believe she just zoned out on her sensei! He probably thinks she was some kind of idiot now.

* * *

A crisp smack was heard, as it echoed through the house.

Sakura clenched her teeth as she held the spot where her cheek had just been smacked. Real hard.

"You worthless piece of nothing! I always knew you're a failure!" Leiko screamed at her. Sakura did nothing in response, but let Leiko continue her barrage of insults and punishments.

"You weren't even good enough to be on Kakashi's squad!" she yelled again while Sakura just hung her head in shame. Although Leiko was just your average ninja, she held a deep respect for this Hatake Kakashi character. Sakura secretly suspected Leiko must've been one of his "admirers".

"I-I'm so sorry I disappointed you kaa-san." Sakura apologized desperately, clenching her eyes shut to prevent the tears from leaking out.

"Hmph. You're not even worth my time. I don't care how you turn out. From now on, whatever happens to you isn't my responsibility." Leiko said coldly before turning away from Sakura, who was on the floor now, looking lost.

"What?" she spoke, her voice barely above a whisper.

"You're a full-fledged ninja now aren't you? Well now you can take care of yourself." Leiko sneered before slamming the door.

'What now?' she thought to herself, forlorn expression on her face.

'What's going to happen?'

'Would I have to move out?'

**'Kill that bitch. She deserves it.' **her inner self spoke in a dark voice. Sakura's eyes widened a fraction.

'K-Kill her?' she thought bewildered.

**'Yes... kill her. Kill her with a stone or something.' **her inner self suggested. Sakura sweatdropped. Was that supposed to be a joke?

**'You know you want to...' **her inner self said darkly. Sakura shook her head violently.

'No! I won't do it!' she thought to herself. Suddenly, her hand started moving towards her shuriken pouch. She couldn't stop herself.

(gasp) 'W-what am I... what am I doing?' she thought to herself.

She stared at the gleaming tool. The light bounced off the metal, making it shine. The more she stared at it, the more she wanted to touch. To _feel_ it... cut into her.

She slowly made a thin line on her arm vertically. A tiny stream of crimson flowed out of the cut. Sakura stared at her arm.

'It... feels good.' she thought to herself before she did it again. Except, a bit deeper this time. She watched her own blood drip onto the floor, making a tiny 'splat' sound. It entranced her. It made her feel somewhat at peace.

**'You're becoming a masochist.' **her inner self said boredly, not even trying to stop her. Sakura snapped out of her little trance. She hissed in pain and stared at her arm.

Blood.

Flowing freely from the two cuts. Sakura trembled... what was she doing? Is she becoming emo? Was Leiko really abandoning her? Sakura was so confused her head started spinning.

**'I suggest you bandage those cuts before you die of blood loss.' **her Inner self suggested, though not sounding remotely concerned. Sakura didn't even budge. Her eyes held a dull shine.

'Why does it matter? No one's going to miss Forehead girl.' Sakura thought depressingly as she slumped against the wall, her arm hanging limp by her side, blood still continuously flowing out.

**'And just when she finds her fighting spirit, this shit happens.' **her inner self murmured to herself, although Sakura was too depressed to read into what she had said.

* * *

"Hokage-sama, I have a question about one of my students." Asuma said in a quiet voice. The Sandaime looked up at his son's face, while taking his pipe out and blowing a puff of smoke out.

"About Haruno Sakura?" he asked inquiringly. Asuma just nodded before sitting down in one of the chairs.

Sarutobi sighed. "This was... a mistake of mine. You see..."

**To be continued...**

Bunny: Hooray! I'm finally done! Anyway, please tell me what you think. I'm sorry if it's a bit of a drag these first two chapters, but it'll get more interesting soon I promise! Pairing ideas are accepted, and now all I ask of you all is to review review review! Thanks!


	3. Chuunin Exams!

**A Change of Fate**  
By: Da Cute Snowbunny

Hello everyone! Thank you peoples for those lovely reviews. Sorry it's taking it a while to update, but I'm just slightly lazy ya know. Hehehe, well I hope you enjoy reading this anyway!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto. If I did, let's just say nothing will beat it's cliche-ness. Lol. Btw, this is the last disclaimer. I'm tired of writing these. It's pointless now since people already get the message.

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REPLIES REPLIES REPLIES

Bunny: Yes, I've added this. I'm just commenting back to those reviewers who actually left me a little feedback. :)

**Sakura-and-anyone-but-Sauske**: I agree with you on Saku being with Shika, but most people like SasuSaku a lot. But, I'll see what I can do!

**Ukeire**: Don't worry! I'm definitely gonna continue this story! And yes...smoking is very bad. I don't mean to offend any smokers out there though. But while smoking, please try to think about all the other non-smokers out there and help protect their health? Thanks. :)

**csimiamigirl73**: Thank you for sticking to my story! Hehehe, sorry for making you worry. I just update slowly... (sheepish grin)

**Long-Live-The-Jessenator**: Don't be sorry! I'm happy you gave me some of your opinion. I'm also glad you like this story, I feel honoured. Neway, you'll find out what happens next further below!

**Dreamergirl92813**: Yep, I'll continue soon. Just maybe...after a little cat napping. :)

**missyserena214**: Wow, you seemed pretty pumped. Hehehe, well now you will know what happens next!

**FakeCompassion**: Hehehe, I'm guessing from the review you like Shika a lot? Hehehe, and don't shut up. I'd love hearing from you! D

**HinaGuy749**: Don't be sorry! At least you reviewed right? Well SakuNaru did seem like an option to me, but I don't think Sakura liked Naruto-kun THAT way. I think it's more like a brother/sister way. I hope it doesn't disappoint you too much.

END REPLIES END REPLIES END REPLIES

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Recap:

_"Hokage-sama. I have a question about one of my students." Asuma said in a quiet voice. The Sandaime looked up at his son's face, while taking his pipe out and blowing a puff of smoke out. _

_"About Haruno Sakura?" he asked inquiringly. Asuma just nodded before sitting down in one of the chairs. _

_Sarutobi sighed. "This was... a mistake of mine. You see..."_

* * *

"...several months before the Kyuubi attacked the village, a spirit, calling itself the 'Unforgiving Blossom' escaped from it's container from the Ice Country." Sarutobi explained while taking another puff of smoke.

"The 'Unforgiving Blossom'? That name's so... odd." Asuma pointed out, his head swimming in the information given to him. The name reminded him more of Sakura than anything, giving him the image of an evil looking Sakura emanating a dark aura.

"So... is the spirit like a flower or something?" he asked again, making an assumption from the name.

"Not sure. You can't see it with the naked-eye, so no one knows what it looks like. No one even knows how the name came to be, but it's been used for as long as it existed. Up until a few decades that is, when someone released it from it's container." Sarutobi said matter-of-factly. Now, Asuma's face had a confused expression on it.

"Who let it out then?"

"That still remains a mystery to us all."

"Then how was this your fault?" Asuma still questioned, thoroughly muddled.

Sarutobi took a drag from his pipe before puffing out some smoke. "This is a rather long story. As I have said before, no one has ever seen this spirit's true form. But... people can hear it's angry words and feel it's dark presence. Rumour has it that it was seeking for the ones that locked it away."

Asuma nodded in understanding, letting Sarutobi know he could continue.

"During it's visit to Konoha, it was looking for a human vessel to reside in, as it could no longer sustain it's spirit form. In the dead of night, it came to find me. Imagine my surprise when I heard it speaking to me." Sarutobi said the corner of his mouth turning up into a half smile, remembering back to when it came to find him.

"How come you didn't tell anyone about that?" Asuma asked in curiosity.

"I had originally intended to notify the council of this, but I was afraid it would cause another child more grief than they need." Asuma's expression told Sarutobi he understood what he meant, as he was making a reference to Naruto.

"It wasn't until that child entered the academy did I meet the spirit's vessel."

"Sakura?" Asuma asked.

"Precisely. It had promised that in exchange for letting it take a vessel, it would give Konoha it's loyalty. When Haruno Sakura was born, she had a very weak heart. The spirit made it possible for her to live."

"Do her parents know about this?" Asuma asked. He himself still had mixed feelings about the whole "spirit" thing.

"Yes, though only her father knows. Her step-mother does not know however." Sarutobi stated. He had forbidden Sakura's father from telling anybody else, including his second wife. He didn't want Sakura to find out until it was the right time.

"But my mistake, still lies in allowing the spirit to stay. Haruno Sakura may be herself now, but my one fear is having the spirit take over. If that happens, I'm not even sure what kind of chaos that would cause." Sarutobi said, his expression grave.

"Don't worry so much. I'll make sure nothing would provoke the spirit into doing evil deeds." Asuma assured his father, and Sarutobi could only smile.

"Thanks old man, see you later." Asuma said before getting up from his chair and stretching a bit.

"You know Asuma, you better cut down on those cigarettes." Sarutobi advised before, he, himself took a drag from his pipe.

"You shouldn't be talking old man, you're just as bad." Asuma remarked before poofing away in a cloud of leaves.

Sarutobi sighed to himself. 'I'm gonna have to get someone to sweep those up later.'

* * *

'Ugh...why does my body feel like a ton of bricks?' Sakura thought to herself. Her fingers twitched a bit.

'But I feel so comfortable.' she thought as she let herself relax against the soft bed.

Slowly, her eyes cracked open a bit, only to see white.

**'Good, you're awake.' **her Inner self chimed, in a rather bored voice.

'Oh. You're still here.' thought to herself dully.

**'Ouch. That hurt you know.' **her Inner self said sarcastically. Sakura didn't have time to argue with herself. She was tired of that. On top of that though, where the heck was she anyway? The last time she checked, she was slumped against a wall in her home, getting ready to embrace eternal sleep.

She heard the faint sound of a door opening.

"Ah Haruno-san! It's good to see you awake." a cheery voice spoke, and Sakura's attention directed to the person.

A nurse.

Great. She's not in heaven.

"Haruno-san, you've been out for a day you know. You should come straight to the hospital if you can't treat your wounds properly. You almost died of blood loss." the nurse scolded her in a motherly fashion. Sakura smiled at the nurse and thanked her for treating her wounds.

"Mou... you troublesome woman. You just had to go and cut yourself up didn't you?" came the lazy yet slightly worried voice of her best friend. Sakura's eyes glittered with unshed tears. Someone did care after all.

"G-Gomen..." Sakura managed to say without letting any tears spill. Shikamaru stared at her for while before sighing heavily and pulled her towards him for an awkward one armed hug. Sakura gasped in surprise.

"Just cry. It'll make you feel better." Shikamaru said sympathetically while rubbing Sakura's back. Shikamaru knew Sakura had a lot of problems, but he didn't want to press her about them. The least he could do was offer a comforting shoulder. Sakura's bottom lip trembled before finally letting her bottled up tears loose. Her heart hurt so much, she didn't know how to put it in words. But now the pain was finally going away.

"Better now?" Shikamaru asked, his shoulder slightly wet from all the tears. Sakura laughed a little before smiling brightly at him and tackled him into a full hug. Shikamaru only blushed slightly at the sudden close contact but returned the hug anyway.

However, the two failed to notice two pairs of eyes watching outside.

"Does Shikamaru like Sakura?" Chouji asked quietly while munching on some chips. Asuma only glanced at the couple before shrugging.

"Who knows. After all, Shikamaru thinks absolutely everything's troublesome." Asuma joked and the two silently chuckled before entering the room.

"Ohayo Sakura. I'm glad to see you're feeling alright." Asuma announced loudly, so the couple quickly broke apart and blushed slightly.

"A-Arigato Asuma-sensei..." Sakura said timidly. Asuma smiled and placed a basket of fruit on her side table while watching his students all talk. He looked at Sakura, feeling sympathetic for the girl.

'I hope she would be able to take the news about her step-mother.' he thought before saying something about treating them all to BBQ in celebration to Sakura getting out of the hospital.

"Aweessoommme!" Chouji cheered while Sakura and Shikamaru chuckled.

* * *

After Sakura had been checked out of the hospital, Asuma had to break the news to her. He slightly guilty that he had to be the bringer of bad news for the girl. Although his student's family affairs weren't under his control, he truly felt for her.

Taking Sakura off to one side, he told her as gently as possible. "Sakura... this news may be a bit urm... shocking to you." Asuma started out slowly, which made Sakura worry slightly.

'Oh no... do I have some kind of incurable disease?' she thought, panicking slightly.

"Don't worry, it's not about your health." Asuma assured Sakura, as if reading her mind. Relieved, Sakura calmed down a bit.

"Your mother... Haruno Leiko... has left the village. Apparently, she's moved away with her fiance. Did you know about this?" Asuma asked as he peered into Sakura's blank emerald eyes.

'She left me.'

'She just _left_.'

'She didn't even say goodbye...'

'She left.' was what kept ringing in Sakura's mind.

**'Shannaro! Finally, that ugly bitch is gone!' **her Inner self cheered before punching the air in front of her. Sakura couldn't respond to that. What's going to happen next? Would she have to move to an orphanage?

"Sakura... are you alright?" Asuma asked with concern, placing a hand on her shoulder, snapping Sakura back to reality.

Sakura continued to stare at Asuma with a spaced out look. Then out of nowhere, a tear made its way down her cheek, followed by more. Even Sakura couldn't figure out whether they were out of happiness that her evil step-mother finally left, or out of sadness because she was truly alone in Konoha now.

"There there... I'm sure we can work something out." Asuma told her, while awkwardly patting Sakura's back, who was wiping away the tears with a confused expression.

"Ne Asuma-sensei, what happened?" Shikamaru asked him quietly when they rejoined the table.

"It's not my place to tell you. But for now, why don't you just enjoy your BBQ?" Asuma replied, forcing a smile before taking out another cigarette. Shikamaru could only watch Sakura, as she half-heartedly enjoyed the BBQ, forcing a smile on her face.

* * *

Luckily for Sakura, she was able to live Shikamaru until she becomes of age to live on her own. After hearing the story from Sakura, Shikamaru had offered Sakura to stay at his place, seeing as he was the only person she was close to. The Nara family didn't seem to mind the extra person. In fact, Nara Yoshino had been absolutely delighted at the idea of having Sakura stay, for she was convinced Shikamaru could use a little more "female influence", whatever that was supposed to mean. Sakura couldn't be happier that she got to stay with her best friend.

"Okaa-san, we're leaving!" Shikamaru announced as he and Sakura left for training. Today, Asuma said he had something important to tell them, so they couldn't be late.

"Bye! Be careful you two!" Yoshino called back just as they left. Team 10 was definitely in for a surprise today.

"WHAT?" everyone exclaimed, causing Asuma to cover his ears.

"This is entirely up to you though." he told them, just incase they weren't ready. He noticed Chouji looked nervous, Shikamaru looked like he'd rather not be here, and Sakura looked surprised.

Asuma had recommended them for the Chuunin exams, because he believed they would be ready. But judging from their reactions, they don't look too enthused about it.

"Ano Asuma-sensei, do we have have to enter as a team?" Chouji asked, his nervous expression still upon his chubby face. Asuma took out his cigarette and blew out a puff of smoke.

"Yes. Otherwise, you can't enter at all. I'll give you the forms tomorrow, so keep this in mind." he explained while taking a drag out of his cigarette. With that, he dismissed his team to do whatever.

"Hey Sakura, I'm gonna go watch clouds okay?" Shikamaru told her, though Sakura didn't seem to be paying much attention.

"O-Okay Shika." she said before going off on her own. Shikamaru just shook his head and mumbled something about women and conversations with themselves, before stalking off to his favourite spot on the roof. As she was walking, she failed to pay attention to where she was going and bumped into someone.

The other person was sturdy, but Sakura apparently had jelly legs. So inevitably, she fell.

"I-Itai..." she muttered before getting up to apologize to the person she had bumped into.

Crap.

"Watch it Forehead!" Ino screeched before stomping away, looking left and right for something. Or someone.

"SASUKE-KUN? Where are you!" she shouted around, hoping to find her beloved teammate.

Sakura slowly got up and was about to walk forwards, when she bumped into someone _else_! What's with everyone today? Though this time, this person had enough courtesy to prevent her from falling again.

"G-Gomenasai!" Sakura quickly apologized before moving away from the person. She looked up only to meet bright cerulean ones. (Bunny: Hah! Thought it would be Sasuke-kun?)

"That's alright. Ne, you're Sakura-chan right? The girl who defended me back at the academy?" he asked enthusiastically, and Sakura could only stare at him wide-eyed, clearly shocked. He honestly remembered?

"H-Hai!" Sakura replied with a small smile on her face. Naruto blushed slightly before speaking again with his hand scratching the back of his neck, a sign of nervousness.

"Ne ne... would you like to go out on a dat-"

"NARUTO-NII-CHAN!" but a cry of distress interrupted Naruto's question. Sakura and Naruto looked at each other in alarm, before quickly taking off towards the sound of the scream. When they had arrived, Sakura noticed a young boy (Who was addressed as Konohamaru by Naruto) being picked up by a bigger boy with a weird mummy thing on his back.

"That hurt you know." the boy said before lifting Konohamaru higher so they were face to face.

"I hate runts like you." he continued, giving Konohamaru a hateful glare.

"Let him go!" Naruto shouted at the bigger boy. Sakura observed the two people who were dressed in strange ninja garb. She had definitely never seen them around before, and assumed they must be foreign.

'Is that guy wearing make-up?' she thought mildly.

**(snicker) 'Well this is a first. I must say, you kids are getting more and more amusing these days.' **her inner self commented, but Sakura paid no attention. It wasn't very nice of him to be picking on little kids.

It was then she noticed Sasuke was also at the scene.

'Great, what did I miss while I zoned out?' she thought to herself a little exasperatedly as she watched them exchange words. Then she felt it... a sudden chilly feeling go down her spine.

'W-What is this feeling?' she thought to herself as she turned around to find the source, only to see nothing but a tree. Her stare lingered there for a while before she looked back to see the make-up wearing dude was about to unwrap the mummy looking thing on his back. Sakura gasped, was he seriously going to fight here?

"Kankurou! You're going to use Karasu?" she heard the female ninja say. So... his name was Kankurou. Her eyes darted back over to the girl, and noticed the ninja headband around her neck for the first time. It was the symbol of Suna, confirming her earlier suspicions of them being foreign ninja.

Then it occurred to her that they must be here for the Chuunin exams. Just as they were about to fight, another voice spoke up. The voice that sent even more chills down Sakura's spine.

"Kankurou, stop. You're embarrassing our village." the person said in a cold voice. Sakura, along with everyone else turned to look at the new speaker. The boy looked no older than they were, with flaming red hair and cold jade eyes ringed with black. She also noticed there was a tattoo for the kanji character "love" on his forehead.

'I-I didn't even sense him.' Sakura thought with shock. She knew she didn't sense him, but she had felt his cold and hateful aura. She was positive he had been the one giving off the negative vibes.

In a swirl of sand, the boy disappeared and appeared beside his teammates. Sakura felt his intense gaze on her, but she averted her eyes. She had a feeling making eye contact with the strange boy would be a bad idea.

"Let's go." he said and turned to leave, but Sasuke stopped him.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Me?" the girl asked with a tiny blush on her face.

"No. The guy with the gourd." Sasuke said.

"Sabaku no Gaara. You?" Gaara replied tonelessly.

"Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke replied with a small smirk on his face. Sakura could see that Naruto was angry that he once again, got no attention.

'It's always Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke!' Naruto thought angrily before bursting out.

"Hey! Do you wanna know what my name is?" he asked, with a little spark in his eyes.

"No, not interested." Gaara replied before giving Sakura another one of his creepy stares that Sakura just didn't like.

"What's your name?" he asked suddenly, surprising everybody. They had completely forgot that Sakura was even there, because she had been so quiet and still. Sakura stood with a stunned look on her face.

"I-It's not i-important! Really!" Sakura stuttered while waving her hands in front of her, backing up even further from the group. Gaara clearly sensed the fear Sakura felt towards him. With one last stare, he disappeared in a gust of sand along with his teammates. (Bunny: Sheesh, Gaara stares an awful lot.)

"Sakura-chan! You're not unimportant!" Naruto bursted aloud suddenly as he approached Sakura. Sakura just looked sheepish and scratched the back of her head, inwardly sighing in relief.

"W-Well... I didn't think it would be necessary. After all... we'll be meeting again." she muttered, while Naruto only stared at her in confusion and Sasuke looked a little interested in what she was saying.

"You know that Gaara guy?" Sasuke suddenly asked, startling Sakura a bit.

**'Say yes and see what his reaction is!' **her Inner self suggested evilly. Sakura was tempted, but she wasn't much of a good liar if he pursued the subject.

"Oh no! Ummm, it's just that... they're probably here for the Chuunin exams as well... so I thought... I might..." Sakura rambled on, unable to say what she wanted under two intense gazes coming from two males she hardly had any interaction with.

"What's the Chuunin exams?" Naruto suddenly asked, while Sasuke stayed silent.

"Naruto-nii-chan! Are you serious?" Konohamaru suddenly piped up. Naruto didn't reply, as he looked a bit embarrassed.

"It's the exam that lets you be promoted to a Chuunin!" Konohamaru said and looked as though he was disappointed in Naruto.

"Of c-" Naruto started but was cut off.

"Oi Sakura! There you are!" came the voice of Shikamaru. Everyone turned towards Shikamaru, who was standing in the middle of the road with his hands in his pockets. He blinked at the amount of people Sakura was with.

"It's getting late, we have to go home!" he called and started walking towards Sakura.

"You live with Shikamaru?" Naruto squawked, his eyes displaying the shock and jealousy he was currently feeling. Sasuke just stared at the pink haired girl he hardly ever knew.

"H-Hai." Sakura squeaked, a blush covering her ivory cheeks.

"It's nice meeting you again, Naruto, Sasuke-san, Konohamaru. Bye!" she said politely before running towards Shikamaru and started talking animatedly with him about all the events that had just occurred.

Naruto had a look of jealousy on his face alright.

"Man, I wish I could trade Ino for Sakura-chan." he grumbled before walking away. Sasuke didn't care for girls either way, but he's not one to complain if his fangirls are sent away.

**To be continued...**

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Bunny: Phew! Chappie done! I'm actually satisfied with this chappie. It sounded alright to me. Neway, I hope this chappie has filled in some of the blanks spots about Sakura. Please review and tell me what you thought about it. Thank you!

Also, I'm still looking for pairing suggestions. Though please be open about this. I know a lot of you are asking for SasuSaku, but I think it might be a tad overused. But even so, I still love that pairing to death. So, the ending pairing for this will be majority rules ok? K!


	4. Forest of Death!

**A Change of Fate**  
By: Da Cute Snowbunny

Hello everyone! Thank you so so much for the reviews! I loved hearing from all of yous. Hehe sorry about this larte update, but see all this school stuff is starting, and I'm a bit sluggish when it comes to school, so I spend more time with my school stuff. Ahehe, oh ya, this story might be a bit Ino-basherish. I apologize to those who are a fan of Ino.

Oh ya, I also added a little votes thing. This'll help me with the pairing. So far...

ShikaSaku - 6

SasuSaku - 4

So, this little poll thing will continue until chappie 6. Ok? Ok.

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"..." -talking

'...' -thoughts

**Inner Self**

* * *

Recap:

_"Oi Sakura! There you are!" came the voice of Shikamaru. Everyone turned towards Shikamaru, who was standing in the middle of the road with his hands in his pockets. He blinked at the amount of people Sakura was with._

_"It's getting late, we have to go home!" he called and started walking towards Sakura._

_"You live with Shikamaru?" Naruto squawked, his eyes displaying the shock and jealousy he was currently feeling. Sasuke just stared at the pink haired girl he hardly ever knew._

_"H-Hai." Sakura squeaked, a blush covering her ivory cheeks._

_"It's nice meeting you again, Naruto, Sasuke-san, Konohamaru. Bye!" she said politely before running towards Shikamaru and started talking animatedly with him about all the events that had just occurred._

_Naruto had a look of jealousy on his face alright._

_"Man, I wish I could trade Ino for Sakura-chan." he grumbled before walking away. Sasuke didn't care for girls either way, but he's not one to complain if his fangirls are sent away._

* * *

While walking home with Shikamaru, Sakura told him all about the events that happened while he wasn't there.

"Sakura, you've got to start sticking up for yourself. You can't just let Ino or any others walk all over you." Shikamaru said, giving Sakura a look. Sakura just smiled back sheepishly.

**'He is _so_ right girl! We should be able to kick all those sorry-asses that beat us up before!' **her Inner self said in a fierce voice.

'I won't do that! If I do that, I'm just going to become one of them! It's... not a nice feeling. But... I promise Shika-kun and myself that if they were to pick on me again, I'll... I'll defend myself!' Sakura thought to herself confidently.

'But then again... they're an entire mob!' Sakura inwardly wailed in despair.

**'When you're done moping, come talk to me.' **her Inner self grumbled before her voice faded from her mind. Sakura briefly wondered what she had meant by it, but quickly dismissed it. Was it normal to talk to yourself after sulking?

* * *

Somehow, "tomorrow" seemed to come a lot sooner than Sakura had anticipated. Asuma handed them their forms and wished them good luck. Shikamaru took his without comment, his expression not giving away anything he thought of it. Chouji was visibly more nervous, his hand almost looked like it was shaking when he received his. Sakura took hers, her face not showing how anxious she was on the inside.

**'It's time for promotion.'** her Inner said haughtily, feeling excited about the exam. Sentiments that Sakura herself didn't really share.

"Ne Shika-kun, are you going to enter?" Sakura asked Shikamaru, who had his arms behind his head, staring at the sky as they walked around town. He didn't answer her immediately though.

"My troublesome parents would probably make me enter. So... I don't really have a say in it." Shikamaru replied, finally looking at Sakura, who giggled slightly at his response. By now, she knew how bossy and strict his mother could get, but she knew Yoshino loves Shikamaru to death.

"What about you?" Shikamaru asked in return. Sakura put her finger to her chin and stayed quiet for a while too.

"I think I'll enter. After all, I should believe in my skills!" Sakura said confidently with a smile on her face. Shikamaru stared at Sakura bit before smiling a bit too and ruffled her hair, saying something about watching clouds together.

* * *

As you all know, the stupid genjutsu trick was put up by the Chuunin proctors, and after that Rock Lee confronts Sasuke.

"You there with the sharp eyes. Wait." came the voice of Rock Lee from the balcony. Sasuke, Ino and Naruto all turned around to see who the person was.

Naruto made a weird ooh noise.

Ino looked downright irritated and made a comment about his terrible sense of fashion under her breath.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked, clearly not interested in what the older boy had to say.

"Will you fight me right here, right now?" Lee asked with a very serious expression on his face.

"Fight you right here, right _now_?" Sasuke repeated, as if thinking if Lee was for real or not. After all, he is THE Uchiha Sasuke right? Shouldn't people be intimidated by him? Even his name alone should strike some kind of bell in people's minds.

"Hai." Lee answered, very determined. With that, Lee leapt off the balcony and landed onto the dojo floor.

"My name is Rock Lee." he introduced, pointing his thumb towards himself.

"You're supposed to identify yourself before you ask for someone else's, right...? Uchiha Sasuke-kun." Lee said, repeating what Sasuke had said earlier, when they had briefly met.

"So you know my name." Sasuke said, or more like stated. (Bunny: Well...isn't that what he wanted? Lol.)

"I would like to fight you." Lee stated before getting into his fighting stance.

"You already said that before!" Ino bursted out loud, quite irritated by Lee's presence, and how he kept repeating the same thing over like a broken record. Naruto nodded in agreement but Sasuke stayed silent.

* * *

"Hey Shikamaru, looks like some people are fighting down there..." Chouji pointed out while staring down below from the balcony. Sakura was looking at the floor, but she looked up at the mention of the word fight. Shikamaru also seemed a little interested but tried not to show it.

"Oh. It's that weird Lee guy." Shikamaru said lazily, letting his arms hang over the balcony. Sakura also went to take a look, out of pure curiosity of course. Ino noticed the three and called out to them.

"Hey you guys! Coming to watch Sasuke-kun win!" she asked in a cocky voice, a smirk playing on her lips. Chouji only sighed at how conceited Ino was, Shikamaru yawned, and Sakura only managed to smile meekly.

It was then Naruto, Sasuke and Lee noticed Sakura was there.

"Hey Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted and waved his hand enthusiastically, earning a smack from Ino. Sasuke only stared at her, but she knew it was his way of saying 'hello.'

Sakura started walking down the stairs to join them, soon followed by Shikamaru and Chouji. Naruto ran excitedly over to Sakura, who greeted him back.

"Hello Naruto. It's nice to see you again." Sakura said politely while smiling sweetly. Naruto blushed a bit, scratching the back of his head nervously. Ino audibly hmphed at the attention Sakura was getting, but said nothing more.

Sasuke merely glanced at her, but also said nothing. Lee however...

Lee had a small blush on his face before walking over to where Sakura stood. Sakura looked at him with an uneasy expression. What did he want?

"So... you're Sakura right?" he asked in a polite voice.

"Uh-hai." Sakura answered, a little hesitant. To be frank, she was quite disturbed by the level of bushiness his brows have achieved, but kept the comment to herself.

**'This kid has enough eyebrow for him and that Gaara kid to share.' **her Inner snickered, while Sakura tried very hard to suppress the mental image it created.

"Will you go out with me? I promise to protect you with my life!" Lee proclaimed and did his good-guy pose. Sakura's expression immediately changed to a mortified one. Naruto made some weird quacking noises, Shikamaru's eye twitched, and Sasuke just looked at him funny. Ino and Chouji seemed to have zoned out or simply didn't care about the confession.

"N-N-No! Gomen Lee... but um... you're uhh... too _unique_ for me! And I hardly know you!" Sakura managed to blurt out, though tried her best to remain polite. After all, she didn't want to make too many enemies before the Chuunin exams.

Lee's face fell and he turned around with an aura of gloom around him.

"Too... unique?" he repeated to himself, totally crestfallen. Everyone that was paying attention sweatdropped, and the ones who weren't stared at Lee and wondered what had gotten into him.

Quickly getting over it, he turned back around and resumed his challenge. Sasuke smirked... and yatta yatta. Naruto interupts, gets quickly knocked out by Lee, who had no interest in fighting Naruto whatsoever.

And so the fight with Rock Lee and Uchiha Sasuke began. The loudmouth Ino was cheering for Sasuke with unwavering confidence in him, while the other spectators just silently watched the battle. It then became clear Sasuke had underestimated his opponent's skills, which lead to him activating his newly acquired Sharingan! When he looked up, everyone was surprised when they saw his eyes.

'Sasuke's so coool!' Ino thought to herself as little glitteries floated around her. (Bunny: Like Armstrong! Lol.)

"Woahh..." Chouji said aloud. Shikamaru's eyes widened a bit, but didn't say anything.

'I-is... that the Sharingan?' Sakura thought to herself in awe.

**'Hm... pretty impressive. But I've seen better.' **her Inner self commented. Sakura's eyes widened a bit. There was definitely something wrong with her Inner self. How the heck did she see another Sharingan? This was her first time seeing it!

'What are you talking about' she exclaimed to herself, really confused and surprised. Her inner self chuckled.

**'I'll explain to you later honey, but right now you should watch the Uchiha boy a little more closely.' **her Inner self said before she faded away. Sakura snapped back into reality and saw Sasuke being kicked up into the air by Rock Lee.

"Sasuke-kun?" Ino screamed in shock and concern. How could her super-cool and powerful Sasuke get beat up by Rock Lee? Who in her eyes, was a nobody!

Lee was about wrap Sasuke with his bandages when...

A PINWHEEL PINS IT TO THE WALL!

Everybody's mouths makes an 'O'. Then, Sasuke starts falling and Ino's getting all panicked and decided to drag Naruto over so he would cushion Sasuke's fall. Obviously, that was a no-brainer. Not only would Naruto get hurt, but Ino wouldn't make it in time and Sasuke would just end up landing badly on the ground.

Sakura, being the more clear-headed and smarter one, ran forward and caught Sasuke! (Bunny: SCORE!)

Sasuke was a little suprised when Sakura had caught him. He was sure that he would land quite painfully. Shakily, he got up with some help from Sakura. Ino and Naruto were bickering about the stunt she tried to pull, Lee was looking down in shame, and the others weren't really paying attention.

"Are you alright Sasuke-san? Does anywhere hurt?" Sakura asked, her eyes scanning for any serious injuries he might have. Sasuke wondered for a bit why the girl was so worried, since they weren't even on the same team and rarely had any interaction. He hoped she wasn't becoming a fan girl.

"I'm fine." Sasuke replied and gently pried Sakura's hands away from him. Sakura gave him a small smile before going back over to where Shikamaru and Chouji were, who gave her questioning looks.

"FOREHEAD-GIRL! HOW DARE YOU TOUCH MY SASUKE-KUN!" Ino screamed, who was currently trying to hug Sasuke and failing. Naruto was disgruntled looking, and pissed. Sakura sweatdropped, and before Ino could lash out at her she quickly bade everyone goodbye, she swiftly walked to the room where they have to turn in their admission slips.

'Chuunin exams, here we come!' Sakura thought determinedly as Shikamaru, Chouji and herself entered the room. Once they entered the room, they were almost completely overwhelmed by how many people were in there already. Some people turned to loo while others were just sitting there minding their own business.

Sakura felt the chilly aura once again, turning slowly towards the direction it was coming from. There, standing in the corner on the other side of the room was the boy she had met only briefly yesterday. He has once again taken a liking to staring at her with those cold pastel green eyes.

**'Hmmm, what an interesting kid.' **her Inner self commented.

'Interesting? More like creepy! If he wasn't a Chuunin examinee, I would request a restraining order on him.' Sakura thought to herself, whilst imagining an evil looking Gaara appearing wherever she went. Her Inner self merely laughed at Sakura's imagination.

**'Hehe, he's no stalker. The kid's just.. intrigued.' **her Inner self chuckled before fading away.

"Sakura, come on. You have to stop spacing out." Shikamaru told her before taking her by the arm and dragged her to an empty table. Sakura blushed a bit from embarrassment but didn't say anything.

"Shikamaru, how long will it be until the exam starts?" Chouji asked while munching on some chips. Sakura noticed that as long as Chouji had food with him, he couldn't care less about what was going on around him. She doubted he even noticed the tense atmosphere in the slightly packed room.

Shikamaru sighed. "How am I supposed to know? I guess we'll just have to wait." he replied before stifling a yawn. Sakura scanned the room to see if there were more Konoha genins. While scanning, she saw Team 7 come into the room too.

"Shika, look!" Sakura said happily and pointed in the direction of where Team 7 were.

"So they finally made it here huh?" Shikamaru said lazily before getting up to walk over to where Sasuke, Naruto and Ino were standing. Eventually, the rest of the rookie nine assembled there to boast about their skills and teamwork.

"YOOSSHHH! I'LL KICK ALL YOUR BUTTS AND PASS THE CHUUNIN EXAMS!" Naruto yelled and was immediately bonked on the head by Ino. The others had to cover their ears from the loud outburst.

Obviously, the other ninjas weren't very pleased about that and wanted to pummel Naruto for spouting out such nonsense.

"Naruto you idiot! Don't make such a scene! Are you trying to get us killed?" Ino scolded Naruto, who was in a headlock.

"Aha... d-don't take him s-seriously! H-He's a n-nutter!" Ino laughed nervously as she apologized for him, and quickly let go of Naruto. Then she proceeded to try and glomp Sasuke. Keyword being: try.

"Naruto, I thought you were very brave back there." Sakura said, a genuine smile on her face. Naruto's face immediately lit up and then started ranting about his superiority and all that jazz.

**'Idiot. Now you got him even more pumped.' **her Inner self said in a dreaded voice. Sakura thought her inner self sounded like she's gotten herself a death sentence. Naruto may be lousy at times, but at least he's got guts. Sakura envies Naruto for that. Naruto is being what she could ever _hope_ to be. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed she wasn't the only one who thought of Naruto in the same way, which made her smile widen even more.

* * *

She heard her Inner self sigh. **'Kid, the point of this 1st exam is about cheating like a first class ninja.' **she said in a bored voice after Sakura has finished reading through the questions. Sakura's eyes widened at what she learned, but her surprise didn't last long.

'Oh well, these questions aren't that hard.' Sakura thought cheerfully as she started writing down all the answers. Being with Shikamaru for so long, you picked up a lot of things. But her favourite past time was studying to begin with so this exam was a breeze for her.

'I hope Chouji can figure this out.' Sakura thought hopefully as she leaned back into her seat and watched everyone else either struggle away with the questions, or cheating off someone else's page. Several times, the examiners would be calling out numbers and more and more genin would be leaving the room because they were caught cheating.

**"How unprofessional. Kiddo, if you don't duck you're going to get attacked.' **her Inner self said in the same bored voice. Sakura was shocked that someone would try to attack her during a written exam, but ducked nonetheless.

'Who was attacking me? Wouldn't I have sensed them? Plus, we're in the middle of an exam!' Sakura asked her inner self, who was blowing raspberries. Sakura's eye twitched at how different her inner self is. After waiting for the potential attack to pass, Sakura sat up straight again, before the examiners made a comment about her sinking into her seat.

**'I lied actually. No one was really going to hurt you. That Ino-bitch was going to use her Shintenshin no Jutsu on you, and at the moment, I don't feel like moving aside so she could have room in your little head. As a matter of fact, I don't intend on letting her intrude any time soon.' **her Inner self explained bluntly. Sakura slowly turned around to find Ino's body was slumped over her desk, as if she was sleeping.

'Wow, you're right. So, where is she now?' Sakura wondered and looked in front of her, wondering who Ino could have possessed.

**'The guy in front of you. But look at his hands, she's cancelling the technique.' **her Inner self pointed out. Indeed, the guy used a single hand sign, meaning Kai. Ino was then transferred back into her own body. Sakura could imagine a very angry Ino at the moment.

'Why that stupid Billboard-brow bitch! WHY THE HELL DID SHE DUCK?' Ino seethed mentally before pondering whether she should chance using her technique again. Biting her bottom lip, she looked a little to her right to see how Sasuke was doing. Sasuke obviously, with his Sharingan had no problem.

She looked forward and found Naruto clutching his head like it was going to explode. Ino sighed, knowing full well that Naruto wasn't going to pass this. Ino couldn't let this happen! She needed Naruto AND herself to pass so Sasuke could get stronger and finally acknowledge her as an equal!

Quickly performing the needed hand seals, she transferred her soul into some other genin, who looked pretty smug about his page. Ino was sure she'd get the right answers. After getting them onto _her_ page, she would then transfer into Naruto and write down the answers for him. The plan was fool proof.

"You now have 5 minutes!' the Proctor called out to the remaining genins. This caused Ino to panic. She wouldn't have enough time!

SLAM

"This exam is nothing! I will never run away! If I fail this exam, I'll just keep trying! I won't give up dattebayo!" Naruto proclaimed proudly and loudly. After that, everyone who even thought about giving up suddenly got their courage back. Naruto's speeches sometimes worked like a charm.

**'What a noisy brat.' **Sakura's Inner self said, pretty annoyed of Naruto's voice already.

* * *

After successfully passing the written exam, came the practical part. The Forest of Death.

Sakura tried her almighty best to stay silent, and moved quickly. Earlier, they had managed to get the Earth scroll after knocking that team out. But they were better at tracking people than they had originally thought. Not only 20 minutes after they stole the scroll, the ninja have come back after them.

As of now, their team is temporarily separated. One of the Grass ninja had used some kind of explosion jutsu, which caused them to run away in opposite directions. Shikamaru and Chouji went one way while she went the other. She was now completely lost, direction confused and had no idea how to locate her teammates.

One thing was for sure though. She was in a lot more danger than Shikamaru and Chouji would ever be. She happened to be carrying _both_ of her scrolls, which was a bad idea from the start. The original idea was they would make it seem like Sakura was a decoy, while Shikamaru had the real scrolls. No one would suspect Sakura to be carrying the real scrolls. But with her teammates missing, she was fair game.

And just her luck, she just _happens_ to run into a OMFG WTF BBQ GIGANTAMUNGOUS SNAKE! Sakura was frozen to the spot. Her mind went blank at the sight of the humungous snake. What on Earth could she do? She couldn't out run the snake, and attacking it head on would be plain suicide.

**'Idiot! Run while you can! Can't you see it's temporarily busy?' **her Inner self yelled at her. Sakura's hands shook and she commanded her legs to move, but no matter how much she wanted to move, her legs just wouldn't budge.

Suddenly, the snake started to look more bloated. Sakura's eyes widened considerably.

'It's going to blow!' she thought, feeling horrified. She quickly ran to hide behind a tree, her legs finally obeying to her every command. Just as she went behind it, the snake exploded into a kajillion pieces. (Bunny: We all know why...)

'Thank goodness I'm not covered in snake gunk.' Sakura thought to herself. After making sure she wasn't going to be hit with flying snake chunks, she walked around the tree to see survey the area. There, she found Naruto covered in slimy snake guts and other crap.

"Naruto! Are you alright?" Sakura asked in alarm, instantly forgetting that they were enemies and quickly going to his aid.

"Sakura-chan? Why are you here?" Naruto asked, shaking his head to clear it (and shake off snake gunk) as a worried Sakura checked for any injuries.

"I was separated from my team after an attack. I was wandering around when I saw the huge snake." Sakura explained as she reached into her pouch for a band aid. Gently, she cleaned off Naruto's cut and put the band aid on his cheek. Naruto blushed slightly and gave her one of his infamous fox grins.

"Arigato Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, a faint blush on his cheeks. Sakura smiled brightly before it dropped to a small frown.

"What happened to Sasuke and Ino?" Sakura asked, now wondering why Naruto was off on his own. Naruto started explaining about how he needed to go to the washroom, when all of a sudden a huge snake had appeared and attacked him.

"Naruto, I think we should go and find your teammates. If they lured you away from them, who knows what will happen to your teammates." Sakura said urgently.

**'Oi oi, what about your teammates?' **her Inner tried to remind her, but was ignored.

She was prepared to leave to when Naruto stopped her. "Why are you helping me Sakura-chan? I'm your enemy, and I've never heard of an enemy wanting to help their own enemy." he said in a low voice, suspicion in his voice. Sakura stopped to think.

"I... I don't know. I never thought any of the Konoha ninjas as enemies." Sakura replied truthfully. Satisfied with her answer, Naruto accepted her help.

"Yosh! Let's go save Sasuke-teme and Ino's butts!" he shouted enthusiastically as he pumped his fist into the air. Together, the two immediately jumped up and tree-hopped to find Naruto's missing teammates.

'Hopefully we're not too late.' Sakura thought worriedly before picking up her pace to catch up with Naruto.

**'I have a bad feeling about this.' **Sakura's Inner self said in a grim voice. Sakura did too, but decided not to voice it.

**To be continued...**

* * *

Bunny: Ahh, this chappie kinda sucked to me. Anyway, please tell me what you think. Again, I'm sorry for this REALLLLYYYYY late update. I'll try and update faster once the 'fanfic writing' mode is back up. Also, my allergies are attacking me, so I'm taking Benedryl tablets. But the thing is, it's also like a sedative, so even after I wake up, I'm still a little out of it. So...that's my excuse if my chappies kinda suck.

Ideas are also accepted if you've got any!

Oh ya...before I forget-

A) Have Sakura's sealed spirit make an appearance while Orochimaru is there?

B) Have Sakura attack Orochimaru while he is giving Sasuke the cursed-seal?


	5. Kuro

**A Change of Fate**

By: Da Cute Snowbunny

Heelllooo everyone! Aha, I'm superbly sorry about this LAAATTTTEEE update. I deeply apologize. But see, I had this entire exam thing happening, so I had to focus on school for a bit. Hehe.

Anywho, here are the scores so far...

SasuSaku - 6

ShikaSaku - 14

Yes reviewers, the results seem kiinndaa obvious. Though, if you want to change the odds, don't be afraid to VOICE YOUR OPINIONS! I love hearing from you all. Oooh, and before I forget. I kinda changed the plot thingy, so for all those who voted on what should happen in this chappie, thanks anyway. Umm, hopefully you're not _too_ disappointed, but Sakura's Inner doesn't exactly reveal herself to Orochimaru yet. It would make Orochimaru interested in Sakura too soon.

* * *

**Inner Self**

"..." -talking

'...' -thoughts

-- RECAP --

_"Yosh! Let's go save Sasuke-teme and Ino's butts!!" Naruto shouted with his fist raised and quickly leapt up onto the trees and started tree-hopping. Sakura, not wanting to be left behind followed Naruto._

_'Hopefully, we're not too late.' Sakura thought worriedly before picking up her pace, catching up with Naruto._

_**'I have a bad feeling about this...' **__Sakura's Inner self said in a grim voice. Sakura wondered vaguely what she meant, but at the moment her mind was far too frantic to think straight._

-- END RECAP --

Hopping as quick as their legs could carry them, they made it in time to see Sasuke about to hand over his scroll to a grass ninja that looked an unhealthy shade of white.

Or, it could be the lighting?

Bah, who cares.

Anyways, of course Naruto had to have a say in that. Naturally.

"Oooiii!!! Teme what do you think you're doing?!?" Naruto screamed before jumping down from his branch and grabbing the scroll from Sasuke before it was tossed over to the unhealthily white skinned looking shinobi. (Bunny: Not being racist or anything!)

**'I hope you don't mind, but that man down there looks like a paedophile, and is real ugly. So...I don't think you should go down there in case he decides to rape us. Lets stay here instead.' **her inner self lied real smoothly.

Sakura wondered if her inner self was serious. In all honesty, the spirit inside of Sakura has met Orochimaru when he was just a little, still ugly looking genin. (Bunny: Haha, sorry to all those Oro-fans out there.)

Also, she has known for a fact what that ugly tyrant did on his free time. So, she knows all of Orochimaru's guilty secrets.

Which she of course, did not tell anyone because it was not her place to. Or, so she thought. So, for a fact, she knew Orochimaru was up to no good, and if Orochimaru knew of her existence, it's...

GAME OVER

'I can't just sit here and watch! I offered to help!' Sakura argued back, her impulsive urge to take action suddenly bubbling up. Her inner self (name still not yet revealed.) fumed slightly.

**'What could you do huh?! You're not much stronger than that Naruto brat! You would only get in their way! If you want to be useful, just watch and be back up help if they needed it.' **her inner self reprimanded. Sakura was speechless.

'What are you?' Sakura asked her Inner faintly. It didn't make sense. Why was her Inner acting like it had a mind of its own? Aren't they the same people? (Bunny: Finally, she thinks about it!)

Her inner smirked. **'Sooo, finally decided to ask the BIG question?' **

Sakura stayed quiet, indicating she was listening, but refused to reply.

**'Well, where can I start? Ooh yes, how about getting us into a more...SAFE AREA!!! YOU'RE GONNA GET US BOTH KILLED IF YOU STAY STILL YOU STUPID MORON!!!!!' **her Inner screamed at her.

Sakura quickly snapped her attention to the VERY large and ugly snake with the grass ninja ontop of it.

'Eew, is his skin peeling off his face?' Sakura thought mildly before jumping off the branch, and over to a safer area. The branch she was just on smashed to bits under the weight of the giant snake.

**'You know what, if you manage to get through this stupid forest alive, I'll tell you everything about me. Deal?' **her Inner asked. Sakura nodded her head, and inwardly sealed the deal with her...Inner? She wasn't even sure if she should still call her that. She seems like a...very different person.

Quickly reverting her attention back to the fight, she had noticed that Ino was now unconscious and is on the forest floor, laying limply. Naruto had a kunai pinning him to a tree, and Sasuke was having a one on one battle with Orochimaru.

Sakura got ready to jump down and help aid Sasuke when all of the sudden he froze.

'What the...?' Sakura thought, a confused look flashing across her eyes. Sasuke couldn't move, and that weird unhealthy snake looking grass nin was making rapid hand seals.

'Oh no! Sasuke wouldn't be able to dodge an attack if he's paralyzed!' Sakura thought with panic. Without thinking, she threw a barrage of shurikens at the now...unhealthy ugly SNAKE grass nin. His neck had just stretched just like one, all creepy, and daresay...scaley?

**'Stupid! You just gave away our position!!!' **her Inner self scolded before Sakura quickled jumped to a different branch. It seemed the barrage of shurikens distracted the grass-ninja for maybe like...a bit.

Cause of now, he's looking around the forest with calculating eyes, while Sasuke was frantically telling his limbs to move.

"Hmmm, seems like I earned myself another guest." the grass ninja said in a sickly sweet voice before his head shot in the direction of Sakura's hiding place.

'Chimatta!' Sakura thought before jumping off the branch and landed near Sasuke.

"Sasuke can you move at all?!" Sakura asked quickly, and Sasuke's finger twitched.

As painlessly as she could, she gave Sasuke a shallow scratch so that the slight pain would snap him out from the paralysis jutsu.

"Kukukukukukukuku. Such a sweet person of you." the grass nin's creepy voice spoke before his head came out of nowhere and bit Sasuke on the neck.

"AAAHGGGHHH!!!!" Sasuke yelled in pain, as he quickly clutched his neck. The grass-nin's neck immediately retracted, but before it completely did, Sakura stabbed a kunai deeply into his neck. Though, it felt like she was stabbing into rubber.

"Ssssssss.." the grass ninja...hissed?

"You're such a nuisance girl..." the snake like ninja said before taking the kunai out like nothing. He didn't even _flinch_.

'Though, what peculiar looks.' he thought inwardly, studying Sakura with bored, but calculating yellow eyes.

Sakura took out another kunai and stood in a defensive stance. Inside, she was screaming for help, and on the outside. she tried to put on a tough facade.

"Who are you?!" Sakura half shouted/asked, trying very hard to fight the hysteria that was slowly rising.

"My my, how rude of me. The name is Orochimaru." the ninja, now known as Orochimaru said, a sick smile playing on his lips.

"What did you do to Sasuke?!" Sakura asked once again, keeping her guard up. This guy was giving her more goosebumps than the creepy things in the forest ever did.

"A parting gift. Sasuke-kun will seek me out for power sooner or later." Orochimaru said sickly before he starting melting into the tree?

"Sasuke wouldn't do that!!" Sakura shouted back at Orochimaru, who was gone by now. Shakily, Sakura fell to her knees, and looked at Sasuke, who was now unconscious from pain.

'Now what?' Sakura thought hollowly, her eyes wide from fright. Her heart was beating 150 miles per hour, making her chest hurt painfully.

**'Well kid, for trying to defend an enemy, I say you did quite well.' **her inner self said sarcastically, sneering at Sakura. All of which she had ignored.

- Scene, switches to Shikamaru and Chouji -

"Shikamaru, do you think Sakura's (gulp) okay?" Chouji asked nervously, while tree-hopping with Shikamaru, who was frantically looking for their lost teammate.

"I don't know. I just hope she is. Uggh, women are so troublesome." Shikamaru said, muttering the last part. He may sound uncaring, but inside, he's worried sick about Sakura.

'Sakura, don't you die on me.' Shikamaru thought determinedly before asking Chouji to pick up the pace.

- With Sakura and Team 7 -

At first, Sakura had actually contemplated on leaving Ino on the forest floor and just take Naruto and Sasuke to a safe spot.

However, she just didn't have the heart to. She was just too kind to leave a fellow Konoha shinobi behind.

But that didn't mean she'd treat her unconscious body with the same attention and care she did for Naruto and Sasuke.

**'Geez, so much for sticking up for yourself.' **her inner self commented.

'What do you mean?' Sakura asked confused.

**'Why did you rescue that bitch? All she ever did was pick on you.' **her Inner self drawled, giving Ino's body a slight glare.

'Then I wouldn't have been sticking up for myself. It would've been revenge. I said I wouldn't take revenge on anyone. Plus, even if I were to take revenge, I'd probably humiliate her publicly or something. Not put her in a life/death situation.' Sakura reasoned.

**'Well, putting someone in a life/death situation is **_**exactly**_** my definition for revenge.' **her inner said smugly.

'You're sadistic. Also, who are you?' Sakura pointed out, her thoughts from before the fighting coming back.

**'(sigh) I knew you would ask me that sooner or later. You're not out of forest yet, but I know you wouldn't let this go. I suppose you could say I was **_**once**_** a living being.'**

Sakura stayed silent, telling her to continue.

**'I suppose names are in order too. Well, when I was alive, I've always called myself **_**Unforgiving Blossom**_** because one time, when I was picking roses, a thorn pricked my finger. My blood touched just a petal on the white rose, and it turned completely black.**

**So, that's where the idea came from. A rose is pretty unforgiving when you pick it. However, I prefer blossom, rather than rose. But my name is Kuro.' **Kuro explained.

Sakura thought that was a rather random fact. Who comes up with nicknames after a rather pointless moment in their life?

'Interesting... but wait, your name means dark, so it kind of makes sense that the rose would turn black, but why is that?' Sakura asked out of curiosity.

**'Think girly.' **Kuro said bluntly, making it sound like it's the most obvious thing in the entire world.

Sakura thought about it. What was she, the demon of darkness or something?

'What are you, the spirit of the dark?' Sakura asked sardonically. (Bunny: Anyone else noticed Sakura's not as shy? Yes? No?)

**'Actually, you're correct. I'm named after what I am. I'm darkness, which in other words are, shadows. Evil shadows, I prefer you call it.' **Kuro said, adding the last part for a bit of humour.

'How old are you?' Sakura suddenly thought, not really knowing how old the spirit was.

**'Oh, I don't really know, I lost count after three hundred and some odd decades...' **Kuro trailed off, as she suddenly thought about her age, and was reminiscing about something in her life.

Sakura's jaw dropped. Mentally of course.

- Somewhere Behind Bushes -

"Woah, is that girl for real?" a spiky haired ebonette asked, staring at Sakura, who was not really there mentally, but was physically looking over Team 7. Apparently, pink hair was something they don't see everyday.

Which is VERY true.

"Obivously not Zaku. Bitches like her are probably just trying to attract attention." a slightly nasal sounding female voice spoke, a sharp edge to her voice. (Bunny: Ooooh, I don't think _that's_ the case. Do I smell jealousy?)

"Heh, you're just jealous that girl has nicer hair than you do Kin." Zaku sneered, while Kin's eyes narrowed. She was about the retort when someone else spoke up.

"You two keep quiet. We can't let them notice us. Remember our mission. It's to kill Uchiha Sasuke." a course, muffled voice spoke up from the last member of their team.

Both Zaku and Kin 'hmphed' and looked away from each other, though they were on their guard, ready for action on command.

- With Sarutobi and Anko -

"Hokage-sama, Orochimaru has already given Uchiha Sasuke the cursed-seal. " spoke the worried and anxious Anko.

Sarutobi sighed before taking a drag from his smoking pipe. (Bunny: Tsk tsk tsk. Smokers.)

'So...is Orochimaru looking for a new container already?' Sarutobi thought gravely, his eyes slightly narrowed.

"We have no choice but to let the Chuunin exams go on, but we'll have to keep an eye on Uchiha Sasuke." Sarutobi spoke a couple moments later.

"Demo, Hokage-sama! What if he doesn't make it?! There's only a te-"

"Uchiha Sasuke is a strong boy. Also, I don't think Orochimaru would want his future container to die. He seems rather interested in the Uchiha bloodline limit. " Sarutobi reasoned, also effecttively cutting Anko off. Anko stayed quiet for a couple minutes, before agreeing with Sarutobi, looking down.

(sigh) "I guess you're right. Please excuse me Hokage-sama." Anko said finally and departed.

Sarutobi remained silent, and stared out the grand window, which gave him a great view of the village.

'Hopefully, he doesn't know about Sakura's secret.' Sarutobi thought grimly before blowing a puff of smoke from his mouth.

Quickly, he too left his office to do some planning himself.

- With Sakura and Kuro -

'You haven't answered my other question yet. Why did the rose turn black?' Sakura asked, her curiosity not diminishing one bit.

**'I'm darkness Sakura. It wasn't just because of my blood. My touch itself was enough. I suck the colours out of life.' **Kuro explained.

Sakura inwardly goggled at Kuro.

'Umm...so are you in anyway responsible for my looks?' Sakura asked, now a little suspicious. She had never particularly liked her hair colour since it always attracted unwanted attention, and it made buying hair accessories difficult.

**'Hehehe...funny you mention that.' **Kuro said in a somewhat sheepish voice. Sakura's voice narrowed.

'Care to elaborate?' Sakura asked in a semi-polite voice.

**'You know how I said I suck the colours out of life? Well, the colours don't actually go anywhere. I just store them inside of me. I could easily return the colours, but I'm just a greedy spirit.' **Kuro said, a slight edge to her voice.

Sakura knew Kuro was only telling her the partial truth. There was something else, but she decided not to pry, since it may be a bit _too_ personal.

**'Anyways, because I chose you as a human vessel, a part of me has probably transferred itself over to you. Which explains your rather **_**unique**_** looks.'** Kuro finished, rather hastily in Sakura's opinion.

At that moment, Sakura noticed a squirrel that was near the entrance of her little safe spot.

At first, she wasn't too concerned, but then noticed it was too close to her trap. Quickly, she threw a kunai knife at the ground close to the squirrel as a means to scare it off.

'Phew. That was a close one.' Sakura thought before looking at the unconscious members of Team 7.

Noticing how the cloths seem a little dry on Sasuke and Naruto's foreheads, she soaked them with the rest of the water she had in her water bottle, wringed the excess out, and placed them back.

Ino didn't need one, since she looked...healthy enough. As if on cue though, she started waking up.

"Ugghh...my head." Ino groaned, as she rolled onto her side, slightly curled into a ball, as a means to comfort herself.

'Well at least someone woke up.' Sakura thought to herself, a little relieved. Why? If enemy ninja were to attack, she wouldn't be able to defend them squat.

If her teammates happened to find them, she would have to leave, and then Team 7 would be open to attacks.

By the time Ino actually came to, she immendiately came to the conclusion that Sakura was trying to steal their now non-existent scroll. (Bunny: Yeah, I kinda skipped A LOT of the fight scene. But most of you know what happened neways. You know, Sasuke battling, and their scroll gets burned? Ya, that's what happened to their scroll.)

Sakura tried not to roll her eyes. "Ino-san, believe it or not, you guys don't even have a scroll anymore. That grass-nin burned it remember?" Sakura said, slightly cringing for having to talk about Orochimaru, who's name she didn't feel like saying, then or ever.

Ino was stunned temporarily, both by the news, and the fact that Sakura seemed to be a little more assertive than before.

Quickly recovering, she started interrogating Sakura about her intentions. "Okay, then what are _you_ still doing with us? We're your enemies right now." emphasizing the 'you' part.

**'Ugghh, her petty questions are giving me a brain ache.' **Kuro said, clearly irritated.

"Ino-san, first of all, I've never considered Konoha shinobi to be my enemies to begin with. Second of all, I just couldn't leave you all out in the open when all of you are unconscious. As much as my competitive side told me to, I couldn't. I would be no different than a murderer, when I know you'd all be in potential harm, and I didn't do anything about it.

Plus, I've lost my teammates and I have no idea where they could be. I figured that if I stick with you guys, I may have a better chance of finding them." Sakura finished. Though she sounded calm and composed, inside she was panicking like her dress was on fire or something. But every word she just spoke was totally honest.

She spoke that much and DID NOT stutter.

Everyone, please give a round of applause to our pink-haired, slightly messed up Konoha kunoichi.

'Note to self: if I make it out of here alive, I gotta learn how to stutter again.' Sakura thought inwardly. Sure she loved being confident and all, but if it's going to attract unwanted attention, then no thank you.

**'Girl, you're an idiot.' **Kuro said bluntly.

Ino seemed even **more** stunned by Sakura's mini speech. In a way, it made her feel a little guilty for picking on the girl so much in the past. Though, she was also mad at how naive Sakura was. In the shinobi world, you should never put so much trust in someone, not even your own allies.

Putting on her indifferent facade, she spoke again. "Well thank you helping us then, though we probably didn't need it. After all, **Sasuke-kun** is with us, and he's the best!" a cocky smirk on her face.

**'Well, unless you haven't noticed, your Sasuke-kun is out cold.' **Kuro said sarcastically. Sakura had to bite back a giggle.

Ino, now that she thought about it, saw that both Sasuke and Naruto were knocked out.

"What happened to Sasuke-kun?!" Ino demanded/asked, totally ignoring Naruto.

Sakura was ABOUT to explain when...

In a flurry of leaves, three ninjas appeared outside of their safe spot. (Bunny: I'm not sure if I should call it a tree hollow or not. Cause, they're technically being sheltered by a tree, but it's only the bottom of the tree since the roots of the tree is lifting it up off the ground. Wait...so can I call it a tree tent then?)

Okay, so they appeared a few feet from the entrance of their 'tree tent.'

Sakura and Ino immediately tensed up and assumed their positions. Which was, Sakura standing guard in front of Sasuke and Naruto, while Ino was more outward, guarding the entrance of the 'tree tent.' (Bunny: Lmao, I'm finding that really funny. Anyone else? Yes? No? Just me? Lol.)

"We only came to kill Uchiha Sasuke. If you don't want to die, then get out of the way." the mummy baboon looking ninja spoke up, in that muffled voice of his.

"As if we would let you!" Ino said fiercely, gripping the kunai that were in each of her hands, holding it in an offense position.

"Heh, quite the over-confident kunoichi there. I hate girls like you." the blacked haired ninja said, sneering at Ino, who's eyes flashed in indignance.

"And look at that pink haired freak, thinking she's so tough, trying to protect her so called 'teammates.'" the female of their group taunted, her eyes full of mockery.

'Technically, they're my enemies, but as of now, they're my allies.' Sakura thought to herself, fear welling up at the bottom of her stomach. True, she has been trained to be good at offense and defense, but she really sucked.

Her ninja abilities weren't the greatest.

**'Come on girl! I didn't choose you as a human vessel just so you could waste yourself in a stupid forest!' **Kuro shouted angrily at her. Sakura could almost see the imaginary fist Kuro was shaking. Keyword: almost.

'B-But my skills are no where _near_ Ino's!' Sakura reasoned, panicking, now that Ino had started fighting the spiky haired ninja known as Zaku.

**'Idiot girl, believe in yourself!' **was what Kuro said before her voice faded, and Sakura was left to defend herself.

And Sasuke and Naruto.

So quickly, she cut the wire that was attached to a huge log. However, the log missed, and got blasted to bits by Zaku.

"Tch, what a pathetic trap." he muttered before returning to his fight with Ino. Sakura had to bite on her bottom lip to keep herself from cursing in frustration.

- With Shikamaru and Chouji...tree-hopping crazily -

"S-S-Shikamaru, can't we (pant) p-please take a break?" Chouji asked breathlessly from behind Shikamaru, who was tree-hopping at a still rather fast pace.

"Gomen Chouji, but we have to look for Sakura. For all we know, she could be in a mortal danger right now. (sigh) Troublesome..." Shikamaru said, though muttered the last part. He himself, wanted to rest, but he just couldn't. Knowing the fact that Sakura could be dead just because he found her a second too late ate at him from the inside. (Bunny: Shika...if only you knew how right you are...)

In the distance, he heard the faint sounds of kunai clashing, and...was that Ino's voice he heard?

"Chouji do you hear that?" Shikamaru asked his best friend, who also nodded. Communicating silently, they both sped up their pace just a little bit more, as to reach the scene of the fight faster.

Shikamaru just had a 'hunch' he might find Sakura there.

'Don't worry Sakura, we're coming for you.' Shikamaru thought, worry showing clearly in his brown eyes.

- With Team 7 plus Sakura plus Sound idiots -

(sigh) "Your hair is much more glossier than mine." Sakura heard Kin say from behind her as she winced a bit from the rough grip Kin was gripping her hair in.

**'Good! I'm glad to know at least my looks beats yours anyday!' **Kuro growled in anger.

"Are you trying to be sexy? If you have that much time caring for your hair, why don't you try spending it on training?" Kin sneered as she shook Sakura's head.

Lee, who had dropped by earlier had helped them somewhat, but now he was sporting a bleeding ear, and is on the brink of unconsciousness.

Ino, who had been fighting Zaku earlier was now pinned to a tree, is also on the brink of unconsciousness.

**'Grrr, this ugly bitch is making me angrier by the second. Sakura, you better make a good comeback or else!' **Kuro shouted angrily, her teeth gritted.

However, Sakura couldn't say anything back. She just shut her eyes and let her tears of frustration cascade down her face.

'It's _always_ like this. I'm always in the way, and I could never do anything right.' Sakura thought frustrated.

She thought of all the stupid D-rank missions her team and her did. She was always the last one to finish and slowing the team behind because of her overly strong must-do-everything-to-perfection side.

She thought of all the times when she was being picked on because of her bigger than average forehead.

She thought of all the times Leiko, her step-mom would insult her, and even hurt her because she was a nuisance.

A _hindrance_.

Sakura felt herself shake from the silent crying. Slowly, her hand shakily reached for her kunai holster.

'No...I refuse to be a hindrance anymore!' Sakura thought determinedly before swiftly pulling out a kunai. (Bunny: Sounds _pretty_ familiar, doesn't it? Ringing some bells?)

* * *

Shikamaru and Chouji arrived at the scene at the exactly moment Sakura whipped out her kunai. Shikamaru's eyes widened at the scene, concealing himself in a couple of bushes.

'Sakura...what are you planning?' Shikamaru thought, observing Sakura carefully, and analyzing the situation.

Chouji seemed to be just as surprised as Shikamaru, though Chouji was more scared than anything. These sound ninjas seemed to intimidate him a lot more than it did Shikamaru.

Scanning the area, he noticed that the Lee guy was on the brink of unconsciousness, watching Sakura intently. Ino was pinned to a tree near where they were hiding with several kunais. Sasuke and Naruto seemed to be unconscious, in what he assumed was a 'tree tent'.

* * *

"That's not going to work on me." Kin said bluntly, a slight smirk playing on her mouth. Zaku and Dosu also seemed to be intrigued by what the pink haired kunoichi was about to do.

**'Oh really now? Let me see you prove that.' **Kuro said darkly before she took control of Sakura's body.

It was Sakura's sheer will of not wanting to be a hindrance that let Kuro suddenly control Sakura's body.

"Well, then let's see you prove it _bitch_." Kuro muttered darkly before harshly stabbing the kunai into Kin's **foot**. (Bunny: MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Didn't see THAT coming didya?! Aha, sorry, but I love Sakura too much to have her chop off her lovely hair. Well, for the time being anyway...)

Kin's eyes have never widened this much in her entire freaking **life.**

Shikamaru and Chouji's eyes nearly bulged out of their heads. Lee...was sadly no longer awake to witness the act. Ino...to say she was shocked was an understatement.

She gaped like a friggin goldfish that got sporked out of her fish bowl.

Zaku and Dosu were also very surprised by the sudden attack. They were actually thinking along the lines of her trying a VERY pathetic attempt at attacking Kin some other way.

Other way meaning not stabbing her foot like it was steak.

Anyways...

"AAAAAGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" Kin screeched and immediately let go of Sakura's hair go, and tended to her now injured foot.

'Hmm, I seem to have cut through several bones.' Kuro mused silently, a malicious glint in her eye. (Bunny: Okay, for now, it's actually Kuro speaking in Sakura's body of course.)

"_That's not going to work on me_ **my ass.**" Kuro sneered, taking out another kunai and twirling it around in the air.

Everyone that was currently conscious and is paying attention noticed the sudden change in attitude and aura around Sakura. It was as if she was a totally different person now.

"Oi Dosu...do you sense something different?" Zaku muttered quietly to Dosu, who nodded mutely. He now studied the girl more carefully, noticing how she's taken a more confident stance.

* * *

Shikamaru couldn't believe his eyes. Who was this Sakura? Was she even the same person anymore?

He looked at Chouji, who looked back at him with the same confused/shocked look. They looked back at Sakura, only to find her walking in an awfully sinister fashion towards Kin.

* * *

Sakura's aura wasn't that of a sweet, caring girl's anymore. It was the one of an evil and sadistic killer.

Kuro was about to deliver a fatal blow to Kin when suddenly her body refused to move.

'What the?' Kuro thought bewildered before trying again, yet everytime she tried to attack Kin, her body wouldn't listen.

'Hmph. So I'm restricted from killing anyone?' Kuro snarled inwardly before she jumped back from Kin and turned to Dosu and Zaku, a malicious glint in her eyes.

"Whatever you're trying to pull off, it doesn't faze us." Zaku boasted in a cocky voice. Kuro merely raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really?" Kuro asked, her voice mocking.

'I'm only restricted from giving fatal blows, doesn't mean I can't give out _painful_ blows. Right?' Kuro thought before swiftly appearing behind Zaku and round house kicking him, and then jabbing him painfully in the base of the neck, which caused him temporary paralysis.

Dosu could only watch numbly as his teammate got beat up like an ugly rag doll. Kuro was about to start on Dosu when she suddenly felt her power fading again.

'Damn it!' was Kuro's last thought before she faded back into Sakura's mind, and Sakura was back in control again.

* * *

Shikamaru had no idea what's going on, but it's high time he went to Sakura's rescue. Even though she didn't really need it.

But based on what he saw, Sakura seemed to be on the brink of unconsiousness since her eyes had a rather flat colour in them.

Jumping quickly from the bushes, he quickly went to break Sakura's fall while Chouji went to free Ino from the tree.

"Sakura!" Shikamaru called to Sakura, who turned her head slightly, her body wobbling. Dosu, taking that moment delivered a painful blow to Sakura's abdomen, knocking the wind out of her, and causing her to fly into Shikamaru.

They skidded back a couple metres before Shikamaru could completely stop. Sakura hunched over and coughed up a little bit of blood.

"Ugggh, that stupid bitch is going to pay for that." Zaku growled angrily, after regaining his movement, wincing a bit because of the wounds he received.

"Zaku don't you touch her! I'm going to beat her to a bloody pulp!" Kin screeched from where she was. On the forest floor, bandaging her injured foot up.

"If you could even move!" Zaku sneered from where he was, staring at Kin's pathetic attempt to stand up.

"Sakura, are you alright?" Shikamaru asked in a worried voice, rubbing Sakura's back as a means to soothe her.

"I'm...somewhat alright. S-Sorry I couldn't find you sooner." Sakura apologized, a sheepish smile on her face.

Shikamaru only sighed, before muttering 'troublesome girl' and left it at that. His bubble of worry diminishing somewhat.

Because of what happened earlier, Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru have taken it as their responsibilties to fight the stupid sound ninjas. Ino claimed that she's only doing it because she didn't want Sakura to hog all the glory in front of 'her' Sasuke-kun. Though, Sasuke's not even awake to witness all this.

Quickly telling Ino the plan, they have formed the InoShikaChou formation and attacked according to plan.

(Bunny: Okaaayy. Ya da ya da. We all know how that fight scene goes. Well okay, after that, Neji's team shows up, he talks blah blah. Then, Sasuke wakes up, goes a little beserk but not because Sakura was beat up, but was because they picked on his team when they were unconscious, therefore labelled cowards. Anddd...the story contiues from there...)

Sasuke was about to attack Dosu wheennnn...

"Sasuke! Please stop!" Sakura cried out from where she was and ran to stop Sasuke. He seemed to have turned deaf and kept on walking towards a really scared Dosu.

'He's even more scary then the girl!' Dosu thought, scared shitless. (Bunny: That's right, you should be!)

"Sakura!" Shikamaru called, trying to stop Sakura. Sasuke seemed to be reaaalllyy dangerous right now, and he feared Sakura would end up getting hurt.

-

-

HUUUGGGG!!!!!

-

-

Yah, we all know Sakura hugged Sasuke from behind, which prevented him from trying to pummel Dosu into smithereens.

Sasuke froze, and turned his head to look back at Sakura, who was crying for him to stop. They were alright now, and he didn't need to go on rampaging.

Slowly, the cursed-seal retracted, and they both fell to the ground. Sasuke staring at his hands in shock, which were twitching slightly, and Sakura just nodded at Shikamaru to tell him everything was okay now.

Shikamaru breathed out a sigh of relief. Though, a small smile creeped up unconsciously.

'Stupid girl. Going around helping enemies.' Shikamaru thought before shaking his head slightly.

Yes, and we all know the word exchange between Sasuke/Dosu and co. before he disappears with his cronies. (Bunny: Lol, cronies! I love that word.)

**To be continued...**

* * *

Bunny: Yeessshh!! I'm done!! Aha, well this chappie neway. Umm, I wasn't really happy with how the fight scene turned out since it was pretty much all boring and the same. But you see, I really needed to keep that hug scene because later on in the story, it will play a significant part in the story. Sorry if it was a little boring.

Newaaayys, I'll update as soon as I most possibly can. I've made this chappie a little longer than usual to make up for the long update. Neways, until my next update, bye bye!


	6. Taking Over

**A Change of Fate**

By: Da Cute Snowbunny

Konnichiwaa minna! Yah, I assure you all I have not died. :)

Sorry, for this terribly late update. I've been quite busy recently, and sometimes I just couldn't bring myself to type anymore words. Lol.

Newho, away from my life. Ummm, I have several things I must say. Firstly...

SasuSaku- 19

ShikaSaku- 18

Okay you SasuSaku fans. Looks like your wishes might be coming true. But, something has come to my attention. I know lots of you would like this story to be SasuSaku, but please don't cheat on the voting thing by reviewing anonymously multiple times. Please and thank you.

Secondly...

AFTER THIS CHAPTER, THE POLL IS **OVER!**

Soo, readers, don't cheat, but please read and review. :) Recruit people if you must.

"..." -talking

'...' -thoughts

**'...' Kuro and Inner talking**

* * *

_Yah, we all know Sakura hugged Sasuke from behind, which prevented him from trying to pummel Dosu into smithereens._

_Sasuke froze, and turned his head to look back at Sakura, who was crying for him to stop. They were alright now, and he didn't need to go on rampaging. _

_Slowly, the cursed-seal retracted, and they both fell to the ground. Sasuke staring at his hands in shock, which were twitching slightly, and Sakura just nodded at Shikamaru to tell him everything was okay now._

_Shikamaru breathed out a sigh of relief. Though, a small smile creeped up unconsciously._

_'Stupid girl. Going around helping enemies.' Shikamaru thought before shaking his head slightly._

_Yes, and we all know the word exchange between Sasuke/Dosu and co. before he disappears with his cronies. (Bunny: Lol, cronies! I love that word.)_

* * *

While everyone was trying to recuperate from the attack, Shikamaru took this moment to ask what was up with Sakura. He knew for a fact that the girl he saw fighting the sound nins before was definitely NOT the Sakura he knew.

Sakura was currently trying a futile attempt in waking Naruto up. Shikamaru thought he might give her a little help.

And gracelessly kicked Naruto in the head.

"ITAI!! Who did that!? What happened!?" Naruto ranted on, sounding agitated and pissy.

"Shika-kun, that wasn't very nice." Sakura told him, a playful frown on her face. Meaning, she actually thought it was amusing too. Shikamaru couldn't help but smirk a little.

"Meh. Hey Sakura, I need to ask you something." Shikamaru said, not bothering to beat around the bush.

"Oh um, alright." Sakura replied, her eyes widened just a smidgen. (Bunny: Omg, I've always wanted to use this word. Wait, is it even a word? Lol.)

They walked a couple metres away from the other ninjas, so they had a little privacy.

"Sakura, what happened back there, when you were fighting the sound ninjas?" Shikamaru asked, his eyes staring intently at Sakura, wanting answers. Sakura cocked her head a little to the side.

"What do you mean..?" she asked, not quite sure what Shikamaru was talking about. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes a tiny bit.

"Sakura, you know what I'm talking about. Don't play dumb." Shikamaru said, his stare intensed a bit. Sakura couldn't help but fidget a bit under his gaze.

"I-I don't know Shika. I...can't remember what happened. All I remember is Kin grabbing my hair-and then everything was all a blur to me. Then next thing I new, I was punched by the Zaku guy and you caught me." Sakura spoke, her eyes downcast, wracking her brain, trying to remember the events that went on. Shikamaru was now officially confused.

'She doesn't remember?' he thought.

"Oh my god Shikamaru, am I developing Alzheimers?!!?" Sakura freaked suddenly, a panic stricken look on her face. Shikamaru was still in his serious thinking mode, so it that only freaked Sakura out a bit more.

"Shika this is SERIOUS! Maybe I got a sudden amnesia?! Or a concussion!? Short-term memory loss!?!?" Sakura rambled, causing some others to stare at her. Shikamaru sighed.

'This is _so_ messed up. I swear, the girl I saw fighting before was not the Sakura I knew.' Shikamaru thought determinedly. He was definitely going to get to the bottom of it.

**'Dude, maybe she's split personalitied, but never showed her violent side until she was threatened badly.' **Inner Shikamaru reasoned.

Shikamaru pondered on that thought, but didn't dwell on it. He was sure Sakura didn't have an alternate personality. (Bunny: Man, Shika's always so _close_.) Shikamaru decided to drop the subject for now. The task at hand was getting out of the forest alive.

"Chouji, Sakura, come on, we have to go now. We've wasted enough time here." Shikamaru said, though muttering the last part to himself.

"Hai!" both Chouji and Sakura replied. Sakura was about to say good bye to the other teams, but found they were the only ones left.

"Eh?!"

* * *

In the end, they had made it to the tower, after being ambushed by a couple desperate teams.

"I'm soooooo hungry." Chouji whined, wrapping his arms around his growling stomach. Sakura had to hold back from saying he ate the entire time they were travelling. She looked around and noticed there were still lots of teams left. And once again, that cold shivery feeling came back.

'Plleaase don't let it be him giving me that creepy stare!' Sakura thought desperately before she looked a little to her left.

'Yup, he's staring again.'

Gaara...the sand ninja that didn't seem to be giving her a break. What on EARTH did she do to deserve his undivided attention?!

**'Maybe he likes you.' **Kuro snickered. Sakura had to refrain herself from frowning outwardly.

'Where were you the whole time!?' Sakura demanded furiously, wanting answers. After Kuro spoke, everything went blank. She was sure Kuro had something to do with it.

**'I decided to take a well deserved nap. And what's with that tone of voice?' **Kuro asked with distaste.

'Did you do something to me when I supposedly fought with Kin?' Sakura asked her suspiciously.

**(sigh) 'Honey, to keep it simple, I took over your body so I could kick that bitch's ass. Need anything else?' **Kuro spoke. Sakura could almost hear the sneer in her voice. To say Sakura was shocked was an understatement.

'Y-you can do that?'

**'Why can't I? You're technically my replacement body. I just have less control since this isn't my original body, and I have boundaries.' **Kuro explained, sounding a bit bitter near the end.

'Boundaries?' Sakura inquired, curious.

**'You're too innocent. You have never took another's life before. Your innocence created a barrier that prevents me from killing anyone or thing while I'm in control.' **Kuro explained in a rather lazy voice now. (Bunny: Man, she speaks with a lot of emotion.)

**'But! If **_**you**_** corrupted your innocence, then the barrier will fall.'** Kuro added, sounding kind of smug.

Sakura frowned now. 'So in other words, you could take over me anytime and start a killing spree?'

**'Mmm...not quite. I was only allowed to reside in you with permission from your Sandai Hokage. I am forever grateful to him, so I won't hurt Konoha citizens. So, word of advice, become an ANBU and go on killer spree missions. I'll gladly participate.' **Kuro spoke with mirth in her voice, clearly enjoying her idea.

'Sh'no.' Sakura thought before paying more attention to her current situation. A new examiner had begun explaining the rules to...something. Sakura had missed it. However, this guy seemed like he should be at home then here. He looked deathly ill.

"Alright, if anyone would like to back out now, please step up." he spoke while giving a couple coughs. After that, Kabuto stepped up and said he was quitting. Sakura's eyes widened.

'What?! He's so smart...why's he quitting?!' she thought in shock. Naruto also didn't understand, and being the more verbal one, he asked him outloud.

* * *

'Oh my god, pleaase don't let me paired up with Gaara!' Sakura thought desperately, her hands were gripping the rail tightly. Shikamaru had tried to get her to relax, but it was a futile attempt. Gaara didn't stare as often, but it was still unnerving.

It was also like even the electronic name chooser knew that Sasuke was a hot shot. For he was going up first. Even though Sakura knew it was none of her business, she still worried about Sasuke's well being. After all, that creepy snake pedo did bite him. Who knows, he might've had rabies.

**'Don't kill yourself worrying over that brat. Just observe.' **Kuro instructed. Sakura sighed inwardly, but tried to focus on the match. She had to admit, the Sound nins were rather strong, and scary. For a moment, it looked as if Sasuke was losing, because the seal had started reacting. Sakura wanted so badly to point it out to someone, but she knew it wasn't right, and Sasuke would kill _her_ if she ever said anything about it.

* * *

If anything, Shino was now on Sakura's list of scary ninjas. She couldn't help but over hear Neji's discovery after Shino's match with the sound nin.

'HE'S FILLED WITH BUGS?!!!?' Sakura freaked in her mind, goosebumps appearing on her skin, and the hair at the back of her neck stood on end.

**'Calm down you idiot. I've seen worse.'**

'Well obviously, cause you're _ancient_.' Sakura commented, sounding just slightly sour. Returning her attention to the match, she saw that the guy who wore makeup, now known as Kankuro was up. Against? Another sound nin.

'Oh my god, is he going to use the mummy on his back?' Sakura thought curiously. Also out of curiosity, she chanced a peek at her constant creeper. However, Gaara too, was a little interested in the match below, and his attention for once, was not directed at her.

However, a few minutes into the match, Sakura soon found out that the thing Kankuro carried was not a mummy, but a puppet wrapped in bandages.

'What an ugly puppet.' was her first thought. But as soon as she thought that, Sakura wondered why she was even putting so much thought into these things. It wasn't like her. She suspected it must've been Kuro's influence on her. Shaking her head slightly, she went to excuse herself a bit, so she could clean up.

Turning on the taps, she splashed her face with some water, to help clear her head. She was nervous about her match, which could be anytime, and her opponent. She stared at herself in the mirror. She didn't look too rough, unlike some of the others. A couple small scratches and bruises on her face and arms.

"I'm surprised you haven't back out yet Sakura, but if I were you, I'd quit." Ino taunted, rounding the corner and leaning on the door frame. Sakura was a little surprised about Ino's sudden advice, but disregarded it.

"But Ino-san, you aren't me, so therefore, I won't back out. I may not be as strong as you, but I want to prove myself." Sakura said confidently, turning around to face Ino. Confidently, Sakura strode out, her head held up high. That seemed to have irked Ino a bit. Sakura showing confidence.

**'Wow. Even cheesy doesn't begin to cover that.' **

Sakura almost fell over in embarassment.

* * *

"Ready..."

Sakura bent her knees a little, getting into her fighting stance as did Ino. A tiny bead of sweat rolled down her face. She of course prepared herself to be fighting against a tough opponent, but she hadn't expected them to be Ino.

"Begin!" the examiner called.

Both kunoichi's leaped and ran towards each other.

"Bunshin no jutsu!" Sakura knew it wouldn't work on Ino too well, but if they all stomped hard, it'll at least hinder her a little.

'Kuro, this fight is all mine. Don't interfere.' Sakura said firmly. Kuro complied, although she did sound a little shady.

**'I didn't shake on it, now did I?' **Kuro thought darkly and waited for her chance to step in. She most certainly wanted to show that Ino brat that her replacement body wasn't hers to pick on.

Kuro knew Sakura better than Sakura knows herself. She could predict Sakura's every move, as if she had the Sharingan. However, she could never know what she's thinking. It always confused her, since she also resided in her mind.

It is quite peculiar indeed.

However, Kuro senses things that Sakura cannot.

* * *

"And the winner is, Haruno Sakura!" the examiner called out. Sakura panted softly, holding onto her side, which had quite a painful stitch. On top of that, she also had a throbbing headache.

"Congratulations Sakura, I knew you could do it!" Asuma spoke happily, patting Sakura on the head, who only smiled.

"SAAKUURA-CHAN!! You did it! You did it! You were absolutely amazing!" Naruto praised as he ran over and gave her a death hug pretty much.

Sakura managed to thank Naruto weakly, after Shikamaru had pried him off her. Shikamaru had also congratulated her, but his was almost absentminded sounding. It appeared he was very deep in thought.

From below, Sarutobi was still pondering over her match, as the next one started.

'Could it be, that the Blossom is starting to bloom?' he thought gravely, observing the match.

* * *

The matches had all been finished, and the final matches weren't happening for another couple months. So during that time, they were to train and prepare. Sakura however, had other problems to deal with.

A) Strange dreams every night that makes no sense what so ever.

B) Shika was now a possible opponent for her.

C) Ino hates her guts.

D) Kuro get chattier as the days draw nearer to the final matches.

E) ... wait a sec, there is no E!

_[ D R E A M ]_

_Sakura knew from the way Ino matched her blows that she was not fighting to her fullest. It angered her, just a little bit. _

_Sure, it's okay to gang up and beat her a bit from time to time cause she had a big forehead. Then it's NOT okay to use full force and fight her properly in a MATCH! It ticked her off, just a little bit._

_Scratch that, 'little bit' is an understatement. Therefore, she's gotta egg Ino on. And just like that, she literally made Ino blow a vein, by finding every insult she could._

_"You know, you should stop strutting around in bandages, unless you're preparing yourself for a mummification process when you die. That's okay then."_

_A couple vein popped._

_"Ino, did you know that purple means royalty? But your name means Pig. So does that mean you're a Royal Pig? Pig Queen? Queen of Pigs?!"_

_A shriek of fury and reckless fighting. Nope, not it. _

_"Ino, you have nice hair. But I don't think Sasuke-__**kun**__ noticed."_

_Ino suddenly punched a lot harder. _Bingo.

_"Did you know Sasuke-kun likes short haired girls? Whoever said he liked long haired girls must be an idiot." _

_Ino froze for just a nanosecond before she jumped back and took out several kunais._

_"I know what you're doing. You're trying to make me lose my head so you'd have an easy win!" Ino shouted, pointing a kunai at Sakura. Sakura tilted her head to the left._

_"Now why would I do that Ino? I wanted to fight you fairly and squarely. I was just simply making some small talk. You weren't exactly fighting to your fullest abilities anyway." Sakura said innocently, as if she weren't fighting a match._

_She swore she heard a vein blow up in Ino's head._

_"YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH, DON'T YOU! You're going to wish you never said those things!" and with a crazed look in her eyes, she chopped off a good length of hair from her pony._

_"Well guess what, You're just jealous that I look gorgeous with long hair! Now I'll show you I'm gorgeous in ANY hair style!" Ino boasted, while throwing her hair across the floor, huffing slightly._

_Sakura sweatdropped. 'I think she's finally lost it.' as she Shikamaru thought the same thing. Kakashi was rather surprised at Ino's sudden action. Even he, had not seen it coming. Kuro however, was laughing her ass off._

_As she went to move, Sakura noticed she couldn't. 'What the?!'_

_As she observed some more, she saw that chakra strings were bound around her legs. She looked across to find Ino smirking evilly._

_"Haruno, I'm gonna make you pay!" was all she said before forming rather familiar seals._

_'Oh no, it's her mind-transfer jutsu!' Sakura thought, panicked. Kuro then, took that as her cue to ready herself._

_**'Who says I was letting anyone else in?' **__she spoke darkly. And as Ino's soul left her body, Kuro formed a barrier, which was a large kanji character for 'Reject'. As Ino's soul was about to enter, she was instantly rebounded far away._

_**'This is WAR bitch!' **__Kuro yelled before she completely took over Sakura's body._

_As Ino finally returned to her body, she received a very painful headache._

_"W-what are you?" she gasped, trying to regain her composture. Kuro easily escaped the chakra strings and started slowly walking towards Ino._

_"Hmm, last time I checked, I was Haruno Sakura, Genin of Konohagakure." Kuro answered, a smirk on her face._

_"But, I guess I could be the girl who kicked your ass." Kuro then added, with a cheeky smile. Ino scowled and quickly got up._

_"I don't think so Forehead! You're going down!" Ino yelled before taking out kunais and charged at Kuro, whom she thinks is still Sakura._

_"Psh, say that for yourself." Kuro muttered before moving at a blinding speed, shocking Ino slightly, making her wonder where Sakura could've disappeared off to._

_"Looking for me?" Kuro spoke playfully as she punched Ino in the face as she turned around. Which was then followed by a roundhouse kick, knocking her to the ground. Ino retalliated by kicking Kuro back in the legs, and using the momentum, spun around and tried to punch Kuro in the mid-section._

_Quickly catching her punch, Kuro effortlessly flung Ino into the ground, beautifully cracking the ground. Effectively knocking Ino out as well._

_[ end of dream ]_

Sakura awoke with a jolt. She was feeling tingly all over, as if she was pricked all over by pins.

'That's what happened...' Sakura thought to herself blankly. From what her team told her, after the proctor declared her the winner, she had fainted from exhaustion. However, Sakura hadn't remembered any of that. Not even the defeating Ino part.

'What on earth is going on?'

**To be continued...**

Well, there you have it. I've...finally updated ^^;

Newho, constructive criticism's always welcomed.

Comments are nice too :)

Umm, well...not much to say. Haha, don't hate me!


	7. Shadow Play

**A Change of Fate**

By: Da Cute Snowbunny

Hey guys. Err, long time no see. Haha, my head hurts like hell, but I finally found time to update! Indeed, I have tallied up the votes, but the winning pair will be remain a secret. :) As the readers, you'll have to use your great reading skills and find out who the pairing is :) Of course, the romance slowly develops, so please don't be so quick to judge.

I made this chapter very long, to make up for the immensely long time. Enjoy.

* * *

_Sakura awoke with a jolt. She was feeling tingly all over, as if she was pricked all over by pins._

_'That's what happened...' Sakura thought to herself blankly. From what her team told her, after the proctor declared her the winner, she had fainted from exhaustion. However, Sakura hadn't remembered any of that. Not even the defeating Ino part. _

_'What on earth is going on?' _

* * *

Using his sharp mind, Shikamaru analyzed and re-analyzed Sakura's preliminary match. With the style she fought in, the sudden difference in strength and speed was too great. He would know, since the two of them had trained together and were in the same team. He knew what her strengths and weaknesses were. Her strengths were in genjutsu and chakra control, but definitely weak in taijutsu and ninjutsu.

Was she somehow hiding her skills from everyone? But what reason would she have to do that? Even Asuma himself was surprised. Ino was the strongest kunoichi that graduated in their class, and even he himself knew Sakura would have a hard time beating her.

It was like the time when she fought Kin, from the Sound group, except less violent probably. But Sakura didn't remember doing any of it. She didn't even remember her fight with Ino, which was odd.

"Shikamaru, what are you doing, spacing off out here? Shouldn't you be training for the finals?" a familiar tenor voice spoke.

(sigh) "I'm trying to figure something out. But, I guess I should go train." Shikamaru answered his father, though he wasn't keen on training.

"You're concerned about Sakura, aren't you." his father said knowingly. Shikamaru blushed a little in embarassment.

"How did you-"

"Of course I would know. Being your father for so long, I can tell when something is bothering you particularly." his father explained with a slight smile on his face.

"I have to agree wtih you though. Sakura's a bit of a special case. According to you, she loses her memory after her fights, correct?" he asked.

"I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I believe, someone _else_ is fighing in Sakura's place." Shikamaru stated firmly. Shikaku just shook his head in bewilderment.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to figure this one out slowly." he said before leaving his son alone once again.

* * *

"Kuro, _where_ in the hell are you?" Sakura asked irritably, pacing around in her bedroom. Kuro hadn't been talking to her for the past week now. Not only had it worried her, but she was developing short-term memory loss.

**'Right here, you brat.' **Kuro replied just as irritably. Her voice darker and somewhat raspy.

'Kuro, did you possess me during my match?' Sakura asked, cutting straight to the point.

**'Yes, even when you told me not to.'**

"You...are the worst listener _ever_." Sakura grumbled quietly to herself. Thanks to Kuro, she would have to fight in the final matches. The prospect of that wasn't appealing to her at _all_.

* * *

"Hokage-sama."

(puffs out smoke) "Yes, I know Asuma. Things are getting slightly out of hand." Sarutobi said, before sticking his pipe in his mouth again.

"I think we should withdraw Sakura from the final matches." Asuma stated grimly, and pointedly. Ever since witnessing the Cursed Blossom's powers, Asuma had been uneasy about letting Sakura do any fighting. Not only does she become a danger to others, but could be potentially dangerous for herself.

"Do you really think that is for the best?" Sarutobi asked, looking out the window of his office.

"The spirit is now strong enough to take over Sakura's body. We can't afford to let that happen. What if it-"

"Asuma. That spirit has limitations, and is not foolish enough to murder its host. However, I am concerned, as to whether Sakura knows about the spirit taking over her." Sarutobi said, his expression grim.

"Whether she knows or not, it's still dangerous for her to participate. What if the spirit decides to draw back last minute?" Asuma pressed on.

"Like I said earlier, the spirit wouldn't try to destroy its host, so it would not draw back last minute. Asuma, if we can leave Uchiha Sasuke in the finals with his cursed-seal, Sakura would be fine." Sarutobi said, blowing out a puff of smoke.

"Sakura's body isn't accustomed to so much power. Long term possession like that could deteriorate her health." Asuma said, his expression serious. Sarutobi was quiet, but you could see he contemplating deeply. He continued to puff smoke out, and a strained silence fell upon the room.

"As regrettable as it is to say this, Haruno Sakura's body also belongs to that spirit. It has manifested itself in Sakura. It would be difficult to separate the two without dealing permanent damage to Sakura." Sarutobi said, a tinge of regret in his voice. Asuma knew the Hokage had Sakura's best interest at heart, but was this really the right thing to do?

* * *

"Sakura, you need to watch your back." Shikamaru said, as he released Sakura from his shadow possession.

Sakura sighed. "Thanks Shikamaru, I'll work on that."

It was the day before the final matches, and both Shikamaru and Sakura wanted to fit in as much training as they possibly could. The two have been at it for nearly three hours. However, since the beginning of the training session, Shikamaru had noticed a somewhat distracted look in Sakura's eyes.

"Sakura, is there something bothering you?" Shikamaru asked suddenly, surprising himself even. He hadn't meant to confront Sakura yet.

Sakura's eyes widened a little. "What makes you say that?" she shot back, twirling a strip of her hair with her finger. She was nervous.

"Nothing really. You just seemed distracted." Shikamaru answered hastily, shrugging. Sakura suddenly found the ground very interesting.

**'What a nosy boy.' **Kuro said with distaste. Sakura frowned inwardly at Kuro's comment. But, she knew Shikamaru knew something and it made Kuro uncomfortable.

With a sudden urge to confide, Sakura felt she needed to let someone else in on her little secret. Shikamaru had opened the topic up, and it was something Sakura found very tempting. "Shika-kun, I have something to tell you." Sakura started, catching Shikamaru's attention. Finally meeting Shikamaru's intense gaze, her breath suddenly got caught in her throat.

She couldn't say it.

"G-Good luck on the finals tomorrow!" Sakura said, a fake grin plastered to her face. For a second, Shikamaru looked almost disappointed before he smirked.

"You too. But if I were you, I wouldn't go around wishing their possible opponents good luck." he said. Sakura grinned genuinely now.

"Well, it wouldn't be _so_ bad if you were my opponent. You wouldn't try to kill me at least." Sakura said optimistically. Shikamaru's expression turned serious at this.

"No, I wouldn't. But don't forget about the other ninjas. Especially that Sound guy and the two Sand ninjas." he said, worry evident in his eyes.

Sakura smiled weakly, trying hard to suppress the shudder that racked her small frame at the thought of facing against Gaara.

"Well, if I end up being matched with them, I'll just simply forfeit. I'm not suicidal yet Shika. There's always next times."

"Well, if you're not up against me, I better pray hard that it would be Naruto." he said, which ended in them both chuckling, putting the nervousness about the upcoming match aside.

* * *

Somehow, "tomorrow" seemed to come by much quicker than Sakura had anticipated. It felt as if the clock had sped up on them. All the participants stood in a row in the middle of the pitch, waiting for the proctor to tell them who their opponents were.

Sakura's insides churned. The butterflies in her stomach fluttered harder than ever, making her feel slightly nauseous. What worried her even more was the intense look Gaara gave her. She sensed his killing intent. He was definitely out for blood.

_Her_ blood to be exact. What made it worse was, he didn't seem to care too much about killing a ninja during an _exam_. She had a sudden flashback at Lee's match, and her heart pounded harder against her rib cage.

**'Get a grip. He won't kill you. Not if I can help it.' **Kuro mutteredly darkly. Despite disapproving Kuro of possessing her body, she didn't seem to mind so much if it would save her skin.

Sasuke hadn't shown up yet. Unlike normal people, who would be glad they'd have one less opponent, she worried for Sasuke's safety. Worried that the creepy Orochimaru guy had managed to take him away. She hadn't told anyone about it yet, cause Sasuke would most likely kill her if she ruined his chance to become Chuunin. So instead, she tried hard and convinced herself that Sasuke would never willingly go with the snake creep.

And not that she cared, but she had also noticed Dosu's disappearance. Well, at least one good thing happened.

Their proctor for the final match was Genma. He had explained the rules to them, and showed them who they paired off against. Sakura visibly gulped.

1. Uzumaki Naruto vs. Hyuuga Neji

2. Gaara vs. (Uchiha Sasuke vs. Haruno Sakura)

3. Kankuro vs. Aburame Shino

4. Temari vs. Nara Shikamaru

Sakura glanced over at Shikamaru, and he returned her shocked expression. Just her luck right?

'Oh, why oh why?!?' Sakura thought horrified.

**'Oh goodie. We get the Uchiha brat.' **Kuro said, amusement in her voice. Sakura felt her throat go awfully dry.

'Are you insane?! I don't stand a chance against Sasuke-kun!' Sakura moaned inwardly, while Kuro sniggered.

Shikamaru was worried about Sakura, having to face up against the Uchiha. But said boy was not even here, so it made him _extremely_ worried they might disqualify Sasuke and make Sakura fight Gaara. But on the otherhand, if Sasuke manages to show up, he might go easy on Sakura, and not completely kill her. However, he mustn't get his hopes up about that.

"Naruto-kun, good luck." Sakura told him, a smile on her face as she walked towards the balcony.

"Thanks Sakura-chan! I'll do my best!" Naruto said enthusiastically, giving her his infamous fox grin and thumbs up.

True to his word, Naruto did try his best. At first, Neji appeared to be winning, what with his superior Hyuuga technique and all. But Naruto, being the knuckle-headed ninja that he was, managed to break through all that, and gave Neji the beating he deserved. Knocking some sense into him, that is.

"That Naruto." she heard Shikamaru comment. Sakura smiled, happy that her friend had won, but worried at the same time. Her match with Sasuke was supposed to be next, but he _still_ hadn't shown up. Her nerves were mounting higher than ever.

Shikamaru noticed Sakura's distress.

"Sakura remember. You can always forfeit." Shikamaru whispered in her ear. Sakura nodded in agreement, chancing a look towards Gaara. Thankfully, he wasn't looking back. Sakura hoped Sasuke would show up soon. Even though it hadn't been her skills that got her into the final matches, the prospect of just forfeiting didn't appeal to Sakura. It made her feel like a coward, and _weak_.

She looked over at where Kages were sitting, and saw them conversing. It seemed evident the Kazekage didn't want to disqualify Sasuke, for the next match (to her relief) was Kankurou vs Shino. But to her horror, Kankurou forfeited, without even batting an eyelash. Which meant...

"Since Kankurou has forfeited, our next match would be Aburame Shino vs Haruno Sakura!" the proctor shouted. Sakura felt her stomach plummet.

**'WHAT?! This is an outrage!'**

'I know!'

**'I wanted to fight the Uchiha!'**

'I don't want to fight either of them!' Sakura and Kuro had shouted at each other internally. Sakura considered forfeiting, knowing what Shino's bugs could do. However, life really hated Sakura. (Bunny: Thought I'd actually let Sakura kill herself facing her original opponents eh?)

"Goooo Sakura-chan! You can defeat Shino's bugs easily!" Naruto cheered for her, and eagerly pushed her down the stairs.

"B-But-!"

"I believe in you Sakura-chan!" Naruto cut her off as he pushed her out onto the pitch. Sakura cried inside. It was too late to forfeit now! She also noticed, the crowd was definitely not looking forward to her match. They had been anticipating Sasuke's match.

(sigh) 'I might as well give it my all.' she resigned. Shaking hands with Shino, they both walked to their spots and waited for Genma's signal.

"Begin!"

Sakura had gotten into her defensive stance while Shino was standing still, hands in his pockets. It was evident Shino was waiting for her to make the first move.

**'Ooooh, being the gentleman is he?' **Kuro said, somewhat coyly. Then, quickly taking some shurikens out, Sakura started at a run towards Shino and threw the barrage of shurikens at him. All the while, she heard Naruto cheering loudly for her, and dissing Shino.

Shino easily evaded her shurikens and continued to dodge all her moves. Sakura scrunched up her a face a little in concentration, trying to land a blow on Shino.

**'He's not even taking us seriously.' **Kuro said huffily. But, she was keeping her word rather well about not interfering.

'I think Shino might be a little upset. His original opponent just passed him on to me. I don't think he really wants to fight me.' Sakura thought.

**'Honey, I think he's just underestimating you.' **

'No, I think he's waiting for me to tire myself out.' Sakura thought to herself wearily. She jumped back from Shino a little. If she was going to win, she needed a strategy. So far, Shino was only dodging and blocking her punches and kicks. Even so, Shino wasn't keen on letting Sakura think, for he's making his move.

Taking a kunai out, Sakura stood defensively. A swarm of bugs now hovered in a ring around Shino. A shiver ran up her spine as she saw the bugs, and heard their quiet buzz.

"If I were you Sakura, I would forfeit now." Shino spoke to her suddenly. Sakura's stance faltered a little, but Kuro bristled preparing to retort back mentally, but someone else had beat her to it.

"SAKURA-CHAN WOULD NEVER FORFEIT TO YOU SHINO! GOOOOOOOO SAKURA-CHAAANNN!!!" Naruto bellowed enthusiastically from the balcony. Sakura sweatdropped at Naruto's strong support, and caught Shikamaru smacking Naruto in the back of the head.

"Very well." Shino had said quietly before he sent his bugs toward Sakura.

'WHAT?! I didn't even give him my reply!' Sakura screamed inwardly, dashing away from the parasitic bugs.

"Naruto, you're going to be the death of me!!!" Sakura moaned to herself, still running from the bugs.

**'THAT NINCOMPOOP! Urgh, causing unnecessary aggravation!' **Kuro shouted furiously. Sakura would have laughed at the name if she wasn't too busy trying to save her skin.

Sakura vaguely acknowledged the fact that the crowd was laughing at her desperate attempt to escape the bugs, and Shikamaru shouting something at her.

BAM!

That's what Shikamaru was trying to tell her. She had run headlong into the stupid tree. She was too busy looking back to look at what was in front of her. Now she definitely felt like an idiot. Oh, how embarrassing she was to Konoha.

'Sakura...' Shikamaru groaned inwardly. He tried to warn her.

* * *

Back up in the audience, Asuma was sitting beside Kurenai, and watched Sakura anxiously.

'It's still Sakura alright.' he thought, feeling an odd mixture of relief and worry. Only Sakura would have run headlong into a tree.

Over at where Ino was sitting, she watched with annoyance while Chouji ate his chips.

"How could Sakura have beaten me?! She just ran right into a tree!" Ino complained to Chouji, who paused in the act of putting a chip in mouth to look.

"I have no clue, but she did." Chouji shrugged before going back to his chips. Ino felt a vein pop, and decided to ignore Chouji.

"FOREHEAD-GIRL YOU BETTER WIN! I WON'T FORGIVE YOU IF YOU LOST TO THAT BUG-FREAK!" Ino shouted at her, though the chances of Sakura hearing that was slim to none, since the crowd was all pretty loud.

* * *

Sakura got up quickly, and tried to get a grip on herself. Her head hurt, and white spots danced in her eyes. The bugs were coming closer than ever, and she didn't want to find out what they would do to her if they caught her.

**'Sakura, we aren't playing tag.' **Kuro snarled at her. She was in a bad mood alright.

'I get it, I get it!' Sakura thought back. Running swiftly, Sakura quickly performed the hand-seals to create four bunshins. Each running off into a different direction, the huge swarm of insects divided themselves to follow the bunshins. All of the clones ran in an arch towards Shino, who was still in a casual stance.

As they reached him, all four clones plus the real Sakura prepared to punch him at the same time, except the bugs that were chasing them suddenly formed a wall, which absorbed the blow.

Gritting her teeth, Sakura was forced to jump back and the bugs started to go after her clones.

'There!' she spotted, and threw her kunai hard and fast at Shino. During the time the bugs left to attack her clones, she took the oppurtunity to attack Shino. Realizing a second too late, and the kunai had actually managed to cut his hand. Sakura's heart gave a tiny jump of triumph. At least she managed to injure him a little.

**'This is getting ridiculus. Let this stupid game _end_.' **Kuro muttered to herself, and before Sakura could protest or acknowledge it, she took control of her body. She had humoured Sakura for ten minutes, and that was long enough.

"Aburame Shino. Stop going easy on me and fight like a man!" Kuro taunted him with a smirk on her face. That uncharacteristic line had obviously shocked Naruto, for his cheering cut off abruptly, leaving his mouth hanging open.

Let the real match begin.

* * *

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. He was sure now, that something within Sakura had changed. Her attitude had suddenly changed, and even her fighting stance. Shino had also noticed this change, and display of bravado.

"Shikamaru, is Sakura-chan okay?" he heard Naruto ask him, but ignored him. This would be his chance to observe this, "new" Sakura.

In the audience, Asuma grit his teeth a little.

'That spirit's interfering...' he thought furiously. Kurenai noticed Asuma had tensed up, and mistook it for worry.

"Asuma, Shino won't harm Sakura that much. He's fair, and I doubt Sakura's taunts would affect him much." Kurenai reassured him. Asuma smiled weakly at her.

'I'm not worried about Sakura getting hurt. I'm afraid she might put _Shino_ out of commission.' Asuma thought, his eyes watching the match again.

* * *

Cracking her knuckles, Kuro smirked before charging towards Shino with speed Sakura never possessed, surprising Shino at the sudden change.

'She's completely different from before.' Shino thought, quite surprised, as he blocked Kuro's punches with his bugs. Giving one last kick, which managed to make Shino skid backwards a bit. Using that to her advantage, she rapidly formed the hand-seals for a jutsu.

"If you aren't going to be using ninjutsu anytime soon, I will." Kuro said as she finished the last seal.

"Kage Engi!" she said.

As if the shadows around her suddenly became alive, and were given a physical form, they all moved towards Kuro and enveloped her like a cocoon. The bugs around Shino formed a tight ring around him. Even his bugs had sensed the change in chakra.

Abruptly, the shadow cocoon dispersed and Kuro now sported a pair of dark, translucent wings unfurled from her back, looking like it was made of black chakra. She heard gasps from the crowd and her smirk grew even bigger. She chanced a look at Shikamaru, and even he was gaping at her.

"Let's finish this!" she hollered to Shino and jumped into the air. Shino looked up and noticed she had disappeared.

'Where-'

"Right here bug-boy." Kuro had whispered into his ear and gave him a hard kick to the back, sending him flying forward before even finished his thought

* * *

Up at where the Kages were sitting, the two of them were pleasantly surprised.

"My, my. I wasn't expecting this to come out of the little girl." the Kazekage commented, giving a humourless chuckle, while shooting the Hokage a sideways glance. Sarutobi barely acknowledged the comment as he observed the match.

'Is the blossom blooming already?' Sarutobi thought grimly, not liking the way the match was going at all.

* * *

Kuro's jutsu had enabled her to use the shadows around her. It gave them a physical form and will morph into whatever she chooses. She had given her a pair of wings for a boost of speed, and whether she was making fun of Shino or not, she had formed a huge bug catcher's net that was meant to capture Shino with.

Utilizing the shadows around her, an endless number of shurikens were flying wherever a pool of shadows were. Shino lay panting at the far end of the pitch that was filled with sun, so shurikens wouldn't sneak up on him from behind.

Not keen on letting Shino catch his breath, Kuro dashed forward, humongous net in hand, and swung it forward. It had made contact, but "Shino" merely dissolved into a mass of insects. Then suddenly, a foot swung out from behind her, about to deliver a kick, but Kuro merely tutted.

The wings on her back suddenly morphed into ropes and wound themselves tightly around Shino. Extending, the ropes slammed Shino into the ground left and right before tossing him right over Kuro's head and into the wall in front, knocking Shino out cold.

"And the winner of this match is, Haruno Sakura!" Genma shouted, after checking that Shino wasn't able to fight any longer.

"Tch. I didn't even get to use my net." Kuro whined as the crowd around her burst into applause. Asuma and Kurenai had both been pleasantly shocked. Naruto was screaming his head off; Shikamaru has reached a conclusion; Sarutobi reached a decision; the Kazekage was smiling slyly under his mask; and Haruno Sakura was in control once again.

Taking one look at the cheering crowd, Sakura got a gist of the situation before promptly falling face first into the ground, completely exhausted.

**To be continued...**

* * *

Kuro's jutsu "Kage Engi" literally means Shadow Play.

Well, Kuro finally made some definite impact. From here on, Kuro will be making life a little more interesting for Sakura :)

The pairing has already been decided, but it'll be slowly revealed throughout the story. The romance doesn't really start until next chapter though. Newho, reviews are appreciated!


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